France

Five years after its launch, the name The Originals is making its mark on the French hotel landscape, according to Olivier Dufit, its new Managing Director, who has taken over from Philippe Marguet, who retired this summer. A single brand, bringing together under its umbrella a range of...

On 4 September, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz met in Evian in the hushed confines of the Hôtel Royal conference centre for the Franco-German Encounters. This economic and political forum, which has been held every autumn for more than three decades, has become one of the major events of the Evian...

On 10 November, 40 skippers will set sail in the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe. But from 19 October, Les Sables d'Olonne and the Vendée will be living to the rhythm of this nautical event, which attracted 2.2 million visitors at its last edition in 2016. To mark the occasion, a dedicated hospitality area...

This is always good news for both business and leisure travellers. Air fares in France are continuing to fall, a trend that has been observed for several months. The downward trend even accelerated in July. Whereas air fares had risen by a cumulative 8.6% over the year 2023, they did not move at all (0%)...

Monika Ribar, President of SBB (Photo: SBB) On 12 August, SBB President Monika Ribar explained the Swiss rail group's strategy in detail in a lengthy interview with the daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ). Cooperation in Europe was at the heart of this conversation. Here is a summary of her interview. According to Monika Ribar, the...

Playing hooky. It's a childish prospect that's sure to appeal to business travellers passing through Rouen. And yet. This invitation to indulge in pleasures rather than professional concerns has taken a very business-like turn in the city of Normandy. For l'Ecole buissonnière is the name given to a new office complex being developed by a...

The Voco brand, part of the IHG group, has made its breakthrough around the world using a model that is very much in vogue in the hotel industry: the conversion of existing hotels. But it's a different kind of conversion that the top-of-the-range brand is about to embark on in Angers: the transformation of the imposing...

Regional carrier Volotea continues to expand its French network with new routes departing from 8 cities, including Paris. The French capital will once again benefit from two daily flights between Orly and Rodez. These flights start on 2 September. The largest number of new routes, however, are to Brest...

Castle life near the Gulf of Morbihan. From October, business travellers passing through Vannes, as well as companies looking for a venue for their seminars, will find a choice address with the Domaine du Liziec Vannes - MGallery Collection. A new member of the top-of-the-range...

While athletes from all over the world are being rewarded on a daily basis by the Paris 2024 podiums, AirHelp is also taking part in the exercise, in the field of air transport. The air compensation specialist is today sharing its data for the first half of 2024. This represents almost 355,000 flights departing from France...

The Louvre Hotels group has been on the sidelines for a long time, but at the end of last year it embarked on a new dynamic. A new lease of life that includes a five-year strategic plan marked by the renovation of its hotel portfolio. The Kyriad La Rochelle Centre-ville, which has been undergoing renovation work for the past year and a half, has just...

Volotea is continuing its offensive in French airspace with the imminent arrival of a new flight from Montpellier. On Wednesday, the low-cost carrier announced the launch of a flight from Montpellier to Rennes. Expected to start in November, this new route will operate twice weekly. Flights are scheduled every Monday and Thursday, with the exception of...

The Radisson group is preparing to break out the champagne this summer, with the opening of its first hotel in Reims. This establishment, part of the upmarket Radisson Hotels brand, is part of the emergence of a new eco-district, the result of the conversion of the former Sernam Boulingrin railway site. Launched in the middle of the last decade, this...

Every month, the website of the French Ministry for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and the DGAC publish the air passenger transport price index (IPTAP). This index enables travellers to assess changes in fares on departure from France, metropolitan France and the French overseas departments combined, noting in particular a fall in fares of -1.4 %...

"See you in the autumn": that, in a nutshell, is the watchword among businesses just a few days before the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Kactus, the specialist event booking platform, and Rejolt, the marketplace, are in a good position to observe the knock-on effects on events...

Faced with growing demand for TGV travel, which SNCF is struggling to meet, the rail company has decided to beef up its low-cost Ouigo product. By 2030, it should account for 30% of its high-speed offer, compared with 20% today. "To achieve this, we are going to increase the number of Ouigo TGV trains...

New Caledonia has been totally isolated for over a month due to the violence and riots that have shaken this French archipelago at the end of the world. But the situation is slowly returning to normal, even if the curfew remains in place for the time being due to persistent violence in certain pockets of the territory. It has, however, been...

64.5 million seats: this is the number of seats announced by the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) for the summer of 2024. This is higher than the capacity offered in the summer of 2023 (+2.8 %), and now exceeds the capacity offered in the summer of 2019 (+1.6 %). However, while supply is trending upwards, the...

As one of the heavyweights in the global hotel industry, Accor is focused on its development on one continent or another, but it has not forgotten that it is also the leading hotel operator in France. The Group is continuing to strengthen its position in France, where it is originally based, with plans to open 29 hotels in the first half of 2024. And all this at a time when...

The Grand Ouest is attracting new rail operators. After Le Train, which plans to launch in 2026, another major competitor to the SNCF has today announced its arrival: Proxima. The project is being spearheaded by a number of industry heavyweights, including Rachel Picard, former director of Voyages SNCF, and Timothy Jackson,...