Here are some of the stories that caught our attention over the week with some of our takeaways.
Hotelbeds parent company HBX Group said to plan IPO kickoff as soon as next week: Bloomberg reports that “HBX Group is considering announcing plans for an initial public offering as early as next week, people familiar with the matter said, in what could be one of Europe’s first major listings of 2025”. The group had planned on an IPO in Spain in the summer of 2024 but had delayed those plans according to Skift
Travel Tech is firing on all cylinders: Travel Tech Essentialist reviews the recently updated AGC Partners Travel & Hospitality Tech Market Report to find that “since 2023, travel and hospitality tech shares have risen significantly, with OTAs and transactional businesses leading the way as investors bet on continued strong travel demand.” A great article full of fascinating insights.
Lylo to launch European expansion of pod hotel concept: Hospitality Net reports on the expansion plan of LyLo “a game-changing complete social travel experience for travellers on a budget”. After their success in New Zealand and Australia, they are confident that the European market will embrace Lylo’s unique blend of affordability and community-focused design – and have picked London to launch their first property.
Air travel forecast to 2030 – the recovery and the carbon challenge: Bain and Company forecasts that “by 2030, we anticipate global RPK will reach 11.4 trillion in our base scenario, which would be 136% of 2019 volume.” (RPK is the number of paying passengers multiplied by the total distance travelled)
Following a raft of similar APAC related trends, the report anticipates significant intraregional demand growth in Asia—a 58% increase from 2019 to 2030.
European countries will continue to be the top destinations for international short-haul travel with Spain is projected to retain the top spot, handling 60 million inbound short-haul visitors annually by 2030. The UK and Italy are expected to hold the No. 2 and 3 positions, respectively.
Tired of begging, Microsoft now trying to trick users into thinking Bing is Google: The Register has a flippant report on how Microsoft may have come up with a new trick to keep those who accidentally end up on Bing from leaving for Google: “Simply mimic the look of Google’s homepage and hope no one will notice.” And includes a screen recording that more or less proves it!