🔎 Trend of the day: hospitality takes to the water. From the Venetian lagoon, Tronchetto to Murano, to the Maldivian atolls, the Nile under sail and Europe’s great rivers, water is emerging as operators’ new playground, from economy hotels to ultra-luxury.
🇫🇷 France
🏨 Hotel project, Brittany • In Quimper, the former Ursulines barracks is set to become a four-star hotel of around 55 rooms, with a restaurant and terrace. On 24 September the town council approved its sale to Breton developer Bleu Mercure for €654,500, with opening targeted for late 2028. #Quimper #Brittany #AdaptiveReuse
🏰 Opening • Frédéric Jousset, owner of the Relais de Chambord, inaugurated the Relais d’Amboise on 24 September, a five-star hotel created by combining Le Choiseul and the Manoir des Minimes. More than €30 million has been invested in the project at the heart of the royal town. #Amboise #FiveStar #LoireValley
💼 Investment • EXTENDAM is launching FPCI Hotels Premium II, a professional private equity fund targeting at least 12 hotel SMEs operating premium properties in European capitals and major cities. The strategy centres on the “premiumisation” of both property and operating businesses, across France, Italy, Greece and Austria. #Extendam #HotelInvestment #Premium
📊 Performance • In French Guiana, hotel and restaurant activity grew by 3.6% in 2025 according to INSEE, driven by a 25.2% rise in international visitors. The territory has 32 hotels with 1,663 rooms, recorded 417,800 overnight stays and accounts for 2,400 salaried jobs in accommodation and food services. #FrenchGuiana #OverseasFrance #Tourism
✨ Appointment • Kaspia Réceptions welcomes Alexandra Gaudy as Deputy Managing Director in charge of Sales. With almost 30 years’ experience in catering and events, including eight at Ducasse Réceptions, she will work in tandem with Dominique Julo. #Appointment #Events #Catering
🥂 Appointment • The supervisory board of Maison Pol Roger has appointed Hadrien Mouflard Chairman of the Management Board of Champagne Pol Roger & Cie. He succeeds Laurent d’Harcourt. #PolRoger #Champagne #Appointment
🌍 International
🏨 Opening • B&B HOTELS has opened the B&B HOTEL Venezia Laguna on the island of Tronchetto, at the gateway to Venice. With 406 rooms, it becomes the chain’s largest hotel in Italy and its second largest worldwide, built in two and a half years from XLAM cross-laminated timber. #BBHotels #Venice #Italy
🏨 Opening • Langham Hospitality will open The Langham, Venice in 2027: 133 rooms in a 16th-century building on the island of Murano, the group’s first European address since 1865. The group is also preparing its first Middle East hotel, in Diriyah near Riyadh. #Langham #Murano #SaudiArabia
🌴 Signing • Atmosphere Core has signed its 10th resort in the Maldives: ONE BANYAN Amaraa Faru, the first property in its new co-branded collection, will open in March 2027 in Kaafu Atoll. It will offer 118 beach and overwater villas, each with a private pool. #Maldives #Resort #AtmosphereCore
🏗️ Project • A stone’s throw from the Vatican, Campus San Pietro will combine 110 hotel rooms and 186 student rooms on a site left unfinished for more than 20 years. Shops, three restaurants and a 1,500 m² rooftop facing St Peter’s Basilica complete the mixed-use scheme. #Rome #MixedUse #HotelRealEstate
🏗️ Project • Torbay Council has approved a £75 million hotel scheme on Torquay’s seafront, replacing the former Debenhams store, empty since 2021. The hotel will have 150 rooms and a rooftop bar, with shops and restaurants on the ground floor. #Torquay #UK #Development
🚀 Development • Village Hotel Club is acquiring three sites in Leicester (formerly a Hilton), Cheshunt (formerly a Delta Marriott) and Milton Keynes, bringing its portfolio to 38 properties. All three will be fully transformed and reopened by the end of 2027. #VillageHotelClub #UK #Acquisition
🚢 Cruise • Explora Journeys has signed a letter of intent with Dutch shipbuilder Den Breejen Shipyard to build its first luxury river vessels. The brand is targeting Europe’s iconic rivers, with sales due to open in 2027. #ExploraJourneys #RiverCruise #Luxury
⛵ Cruise • Lazuli Nile Cruises has unveiled Amarna, an engine-free dahabeya with two lateen sails, on which all onboard life runs on solar power. Its name pays tribute to the city founded by Akhenaten and dedicated to the solar disc. #Egypt #Nile #SustainableTourism
🌍 Tourism • Boosted by an 18% increase in French tourists, Senegal welcomed 1.5 million visitors in 2025, well short of its 2.5 million target. With beach hotels closing and 2,000 beds lost around Saly, the country intends to focus on cultural tourism. #Senegal #Africa #Tourism
💶 Taxation • Barcelona is considering raising its hotel property tax from 1.17% to 1.30% of the average room price for the 10% of establishments with the highest cadastral value, and will increase the tax on cruise passengers stopping for less than 12 hours from €11 to €30 by 2030. Meanwhile, the Spanish Basque Country is introducing a tourist tax of €0.50 to €7 from 1 January. #Barcelona #TouristTax #Overtourism
🧾 Taxation • Scottish chefs and hoteliers, from The Balmoral in Edinburgh to Cameron House, are urging First Minister John Swinney to back a cut in hospitality VAT from 20% to 10%. As VAT is controlled by Westminster, they are asking him to lobby the Treasury ahead of the Budget. #Scotland #VAT #VATsTheProblem
✨ Appointment • Gekko Group has appointed Cristiana Sartore as Strategic Hotel Account Manager for Northern Europe (UK, Benelux, DACH). Formerly with Expedia, WebBeds and Hotelbeds, she will support the growth of the B2B distributor’s direct-contract hotel portfolio. #GekkoGroup #HotelDistribution #Appointment
🍔 Food service • McDonald’s has unveiled an $8.5 billion, ten-year plan to help its franchisees renovate and modernise their restaurants. Wall Street was unconvinced: the share price fell 4.81%, with the group expecting slightly negative US sales in the third quarter. #McDonalds #Franchising #FoodService
