Fusioni & Acquisizioni

🏡 Armani Hotel Milano joined Preferred Hotels & Resorts' Legend Collection, located in Milan's fashion district at the historic Manzoni 31 building. The hotel has 95 rooms, offers services such as dedicated Lifestyle Managers, Armani/Ristorante, and Armani/SPA with six treatment rooms, a couples suite, steam, sauna, and a relaxation pool. Roberta Possenti, Vice President Europe of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, expressed delight in welcoming the hotel to their collection. Guests can enroll in I Prefer Hotel Rewards, part of Preferred Hotels & Resorts which represents over 600 properties in 80 countries.

🌷 Napoli's Orto Botanico, established in 1810, hosts spring celebrations on March 21 with two new recipes by local artisans. The Botanical Garden, spanning 12 hectares, is home to over 9,000 plant species and 25,000 specimens. Pâtisserie Di Costanzo created "La vie en rose," a cake blending strawberries, champagne, and rose water. Opposite, Pizzeria OWap's "Botanic Vibe" pizza features edible flowers, toasted chili, fior di latte, grilled eggplant and zucchini, feta, and Kalamata olives. Customers are encouraged to wear floral outfits and are gifted a special flower pin badge.

🏦 Ernesto Preatoni's company debuted on the Paris Stock Exchange in February, eyeing a real estate and tourism project in Latin America, specifically Cuba, akin to the Coral Bay project that popularized Sharm el Sheikh in the early '90s. A team appraised his global tourism assets at €361 million, with a prudent 15% discount for geopolitical instability over five years, covering areas like Domina Coral Bay, a Dubai tower, Domina Zagarella in Sicily with 380 properties, Domina Milano Fiera hotel, and the ProKapital group in the Baltics. Expansion plans for the D-Club loyalty program and the hotel chain are set, with potential announcements during the 2024 balance sheet presentation.

🌊 Ara Maris, a lifestyle hotel in Sorrento, partners with Maya Beach Experience, the renowned beach club in Sorrento Peninsula. Guests of Ara Maris can now enjoy exclusive experiences, blending the hotel's refined elegance with the beach club's glamorous, cosmopolitan atmosphere. CEO Niccolò Manniello emphasizes offering an authentic, sophisticated, and immersive experience. Benefits include guaranteed beach club reservations, discounted entry, complimentary roundtrip transport, and a free welcome drink for each guest.

🌊 Ponant, now rebranded as Ponant Explorations Group following a majority stake acquisition by Aqua Expeditions, aims to reach a revenue target of one billion euros. This rebranding signifies the cruise company's intent to "accelerate growth" and introduce new travel solutions.

📍 Tui's Cities top destinations include New York, Dubai, and surprisingly, Poland. Tui is expanding its city break program this week by adding Salzburg and Alicante. Kenya is witnessing a 150% increase in tourism.

🔔 ZONA cash&carry opens a new store on March 19 in Seravezza, Versilia, marking their 11th location and covering the entire Tyrrhenian coast from Sarzana to the Etruscan Coast. The store offers services like ZONA delivery and Click&Collect, aiming at professional clients. ZONA currently operates 8 stores in Tuscany, 2 in Liguria and Sardinia, serving around 33,000 clients with a turnover nearing €150 million. The new store emphasizes sustainability with LED lighting, energy-efficient systems, and photovoltaic panels.

✈ Air Europa starts flights to Prague from Madrid on March 30, following a codeshare agreement with Czech airline Smartwings. This partnership enhances Air Europa's presence in Central Europe and adds to its codeshare operations in Denmark, France, and the Netherlands. The airline has nearly 30 alliances, reaching around 170 destinations in over 30 countries worldwide.

📍 Going launched their project in 2022 with a 5-year development plan. Maurizio Casabianca, the chief commercial & operations officer, aims to increase revenue from €33 million in 2024 to over €45 million in 2025. The company's growth leverages a synergy with Disney, becoming the official distributor for Walt Disney World Orlando in Italy. Ivana Di Stasio, pm Stati Uniti and head of the Naples office, emphasizes their flagship Disney World combinations enriched with authentic, eco-sustainable experiences. Going's 'stylosophy' extends to offering alternative itineraries in Japan and other destinations. Their "Stylosophy on tour" training events for agencies began on March 12. Mariagrazia Verna, the sales director, mentions a roadshow in 14 stages for trade, special incentive plans, and local meetings to introduce new products, including Going Resorts in Sharm el Sheikh, Marsa Matrouh, Creta, and Rodi. The new catalog will be distributed next week.

🏨 The acquisition race for Gruppo Una, formed in December 2016 from Atahotels and UNA Hotels & Resorts integration, includes Ksl Capital, Blackstone, and Starwood Capital. Non-binding offers were submitted to Goldman Sachs, with binding proposals expected by the month's end. Ksl Capital, an international fund specializing in travel & leisure, has been active in Italy since acquiring a majority of Sereno Hotels two years ago, managing over $21 billion across various sectors. Blackstone operates in Italy through a joint venture with Aeroviaggi and Mangia's, and their Spanish subsidiary Hip is also on the market. Miami-based Starwood Capital, founded in 1991, manages around $115 billion in assets. Unipol anticipates Gruppo Una's sale to yield roughly €1 billion; the group comprises 55 properties across three brands, with 21 directly controlled, 15 managed, and the rest franchised.