Business travel

A vast renovation plan will be launched at the Hôtel de Crillon in autumn 2012, leading to the temporary closure of the prestigious establishment. The aim is to restore the Parisian establishment to its former glory.

The Hyatt Regency Moscow hotel is due to open its doors in 2015, attracting business travellers with its modern infrastructure, linked in particular to the Arena Park project.

The British section of the Best Western group has just joined the British association of the Guild of Travel Mangement Company (GTMC).

On Tuesday 20 March, Air Berlin officially joined the Oneworld alliance, which now comprises eleven airlines.

Gulf Air is to expand its business travel services between France and the Gulf States, adding three new flights each week between Paris and Bahrain.

Pullmann is opening a new hotel in Morocco, its first in Marrakech. The Accor group's brand aims to attract customers in the meetings and seminars (MICE) segment with a dedicated offering.

Marseille airport saw its passenger traffic soar at the start of 2012, thanks in particular to the establishment of Air France's regional base.

On 15 March, the Roomkey hotel booking platform welcomed a major new partner: the Worldhotels network has added to the website's offering.

Heathrow Express workers are preparing to take further strike action on 24 and 25 March, which will disrupt links between London airport and the city centre.

Air France's digital showcase recently won the Travel d'Or 2012 award for the best website in the airline category.

Voyages-Sncf recently won the European Commission's "European Journey Planner" competition with its Mytripset tool: a multimodal travel planner that combines different types of transport for an efficient journey.

Air France has just announced the seventh summer destination to be served by the A380: business travellers to Singapore will be able to enjoy the comfort of the new aircraft from 1 January.^er April.

The Park Hyatt Sydney recently reopened its doors after several months of refurbishment, and is now committed to eco-responsibility, while offering travellers even greater comfort.

Productivity, speed, economy and ecology: Thalys is playing its cards close to its chest in order to convince travel managers of the added value of the red train. A study published on 15 March by the rail company, "Pour repenser le temps de transport" ("Rethinking travel time"), attempted to measure the differences between the Thalys and the plane in the context of a business trip, with its specific imperatives.

Lufthansa recently presented its new business seat, which can be fully converted into a comfortable and particularly long bed at the touch of a button.

The Carlson Rezidor group recently opened the Park Inn by Radisson, Fresno: the brand's first hotel in the Californian market.

With just a few days to go before its official launch, Global Hotel Exchange has welcomed a major new addition: the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

The Balladins hotel group announced on Wednesday that it was adding two new establishments to its network: hotels based in Marseille Saint Charles and Reims Nord la Neuvillette.

Emirates will soon be offering an enhanced service between Rome and Dubai, with three flights a day to facilitate business travel to the Gulf countries.

A new Mandarin Oriental will open its doors in Atlanta next May, in the Buckhead district.