Business travel

The Steigenberger group is continuing to expand in Europe, while opening its first establishments on the Chinese market. The German hotelier has also just unveiled a third brand: Jaz in the City, which will join Steigenberger and InterCityHotel in the group's catalogue in September, with its first lifestyle address in Amsterdam city centre. Véronique Holveck, Steigenberger's Regional Sales Director for France, takes this opportunity to provide an update on the group's development.

The French hotel industry had a mixed 2014, according to results presented today by Deloitte In Extenso. The first half of the year in particular was difficult, with a general decline in occupancy. By contrast, mid-range and top-of-the-range hotels returned to more appreciable levels of performance in the second half of the year.

From 29 March 2015, Air Astana will offer 3 direct flights a week between Paris and Astana, operated on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It is also inaugurating its new class, theEconomy Sleeper.

A few days ago, the Marriott International group inaugurated its very first hotel in Lyon. The Marriott Lyon Cité Internationale hotel thus becomes the group's 24th representative on the French market.

Pilots at Germanwings will begin a 48-hour strike on Thursday. Almost 900 flights are expected to be affected.

Aéroports de Lyon recently launched a valet parking service, enabling business travellers to delegate the parking of their vehicles to save time and peace of mind.

PrivateFly has just launched its mobile application for the French business travel market. Business travellers can now book their private jet on the online booking platform directly from their smartphone.

Aéroports de Paris is innovating with the inauguration of its first Business Area at Paris-Orly West, designed to welcome business travellers in the best possible conditions by simplifying meetings and professional encounters in an unprecedented context. All of this is backed up by new technological tools, as part of an "experimental contact programme"...

On Tuesday, SNCF presented its "#digitalSNCF" plan, designed to usher in a new era for the company, its employees and above all its customers. Developing connectivity in stations and on the move, investing in start-ups, equipping staff with tablets: in total, some 450 million euros will be spent over three years on this far-reaching transformation, which Guillaume Pepy says will "make SNCF a digital transport operator".

The project for the future "Beijing New Airport Terminal" is taking shape: Zaha Hadid Architects recently unveiled the first projections of the platform designed with ADP Ingénierie, which is to become the largest terminal in the world.

Singapore Airlines will be introducing a new Premium Economy class on 9 August, which French business travellers will be able to enjoy from the beginning of October 2015.

On Wednesday, Korean Air unveiled the new face of its Business cabin, the "Prestige Class". Pending the arrival of a new First Class, expected later this year.

Lufthansa will be launching a new direct flight between Frankfurt and Panama on 16 November.

On Tuesday, SWISS confirmed the launch of a new all-business route between London and New York. Flights from Luton to Newark will begin on 24 April. 

The SNCF is launching a new mobile application that brings together in a single interface the various functions previously performed by four separate tools. With this new mobile showcase, the rail company is going one step further, adopting a "door-to-door" approach that is relevant to both leisure and business travellers.

Germanwings is continuing its offensive on the French business travel market with the launch of a new route between Marseille and Düsseldorf, scheduled for 1 May.

PrivateFly has published its top 20 busiest airports for business aviation in 2014, with a special focus on French hubs. Le Bourget and Nice are on the podium.

The new white paper published by Advito, "Sharing Economy: Does it have a place in your managed travel programme?" looks at a topical issue that is reshuffling the cards in business travel and travel management. By comparing the solutions proposed by the two giants of the sharing economy - Airbnb and Uber, not to mention them by name - with the imperatives of business, the BCD Travel subsidiary points out both the potential and the limits of these new alternatives. 

The Hyatt Hotels Corporation group unveiled its new project on Tuesday: the Hyatt Centric brand will make its debut in summer 2015 in several business destinations - including Paris, New York and Chicago - and will focus on innovation. Its target: "modern explorers", including business travellers. 

Low-cost air travel in Germany is costing passengers more because of the rise of airlines offering a more upmarket service.