April 2025: the real estate, tourism and hospitality press review
Last update : 7 May 2025
HoliProject presents its April 2025 press review, covering news from the hotel, tourism, investment and real estate sectors. This month, the spotlight is on the mountains, with several key news items on Alpine resorts. This month's topics include new trends in the hotel industry, a review of the winter season for ski resorts, and an analysis of tourism in Switzerland.
Hospitality: New trends reshaping French hotels in 2025
Faced with ecological, digital and social transitions, French hotels are showing real agility in 2025. Properties are reinventing themselves as true hybrid living spaces—mixing lodging, work and leisure—and are increasingly seen as engines of local revitalisation rather than simple accommodation. Sustainability, local roots and authentic experiences have also become key levers to attract travellers while meeting investors’ higher expectations. (Pôle Implantation Tourisme)
Hospitality: Easter 2025 lifts French hotel performance
The Easter weekend proved to be an excellent barometer for French hoteliers. Several major cities out-performed Easter 2024. Nice led the way with an 82 % occupancy rate—slightly higher than Paris—together with a +21 % year-on-year rise in average rates thanks to strong demand on the Côte d’Azur. Marseille followed with 76 % occupancy (+5.6 points vs 2024). These robust figures confirm Easter’s role as a springboard ahead of the high summer season. (Hospitality ON)
Hospitality: Motel One posts record revenue in 2024
German budget-design chain Motel One reported historic results for 2024. Revenue jumped +15 % to €980 million—the highest since the brand’s creation. Driven by network expansion (nearly 100 hotels) and higher room rates, the performance illustrates the post-pandemic strength of Europe’s economy segment. Motel One’s model—large properties blending budget pricing and lifestyle design—demonstrates solid resilience and appeal in a competitive market. (Hospitality ON)
Hospitality: 2024–25 ski season holds steady in the Alps
Mountain resorts posted a satisfactory winter. Average occupancy reached 71 % for the whole season—on par with last year. Christmas and February even improved slightly, peaking at 85 % and 84 % thanks to good snow. Foreign guests returned in force, while two trends became clear among skiers: last-minute bookings (52 % of stays) and short breaks (55 %). These shifts push operators to tailor their offers to a younger, more flexible clientele. (Industrie Hôtelière)
Tourism: Winter 2025 in Switzerland—foreign visitors boost the season
Switzerland ended the 2024/25 winter with about +2 % more overnight stays and +3 % more day-trips year-on-year. Strong international demand for the Swiss Alps, combined with excellent snow conditions, underpinned the result. At Crans-Montana, for instance, inclusion in the North-American Epic Pass led to a sharp rise in U.S. skiers. Domestic Swiss demand slipped slightly, signalling a shift toward international guests. (Switzerland Tourism)
Tourism: 2025 off to a promising start for France
Early-year numbers confirm France’s positive tourism momentum. In Q1, overall visitor volumes rose, driven mainly by the return of international travellers: foreign overnight stays were up +8 % versus early 2024, led by strong growth from Australia, Japan and India. Accommodation habits are shifting: holiday rentals soared (+28 % overnight stays) while traditional hotels remained nearly flat (+2 %). These trends point to changing travel behaviours and suggest a healthy summer 2025—forecasts call for +5 % more tourists than in 2024. (TourMaG)
Investment: Compagnie des Alpes bets on resort lodging
French ski-area leader Compagnie des Alpes (CDA) is diversifying into tourist real estate. CDA has acquired 33 % of Terrésens—a high-end serviced-residence operator—for €6.9 million. Terrésens currently runs 11 Alpine residences and is building nine more (four on CDA ski areas). The goal: secure “warm beds” (units actively let to guests) to increase skier-days and revenue. CDA holds an option to raise its stake to 80 % within three to four years. (Boursorama)
Investment: Val-Cenis to invest €25 million in year-round, sustainable skiing
The Savoyard resort of Val-Cenis will invest €25 million by 2026 to modernise its ski area and accelerate four-season diversification. On the back of a record 2024-25 winter (735 000 skier-days; €18.5 million revenue; foreign clientele up from 19 % to 25 %), the resort plans new lifts, pistes, summer/winter activities and expanded lodging. Funded by the resort’s strong results, the programme aims to ensure sustainable, year-round tourism in the valley. (Mon Séjour en Montagne)
Investment: SCPI market in transition at the start of 2025
After a lacklustre 2024—with net inflows dropping to €3.5 billion from over €10 billion in 2022—French real-estate funds (SCPI) enter 2025 showing both strain and resilience. Despite lower subscriptions, average payout held at 4.72 % in 2024, proving the model is evolving rather than broken. The landscape is splitting between large, office-heavy SCPIs that struggle to attract fresh capital and a new generation of agile vehicles leveraging sector diversification, ESG strategies and pan-European assets to win investors seeking innovation. (Meilleurtaux Placement)
Real estate: French ski resorts—property market success story
Alpine real estate is soaring: in prestigious resorts, prices per square metre far exceed Paris levels. Courchevel 1850 and Val d’Isère average about €50 000 / m², while Samoëns sits around €5 000. This boom is fuelled by upgraded infrastructure, ski-in / ski-out access, exceptional scenery and post-Covid appetite for safe-haven investments. Affluent buyers view these homes as high-yield rental assets despite rising costs and tighter environmental rules. (Actual Immo)
Date de première publication : 7 May 2025
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