Jean-Jacques Dessors and Christophe Landais
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Could you elaborate on Accor’s performance for the year so far and expectation for the year ahead?
Jean-Jacques: We recently welcomed a new chairman who started in August of 2013, so the strategy for Accor Hotels has evolved around two main elements. The company has been split into two divisions –Hotel Invest which owns and lease 1400 hotels and Hotel Services which manages on behalf of Hotel Invest properties of Accor but also properties of our partners. Today in the world, we have 3,600 hotels roughly 460,000 bed rooms. We are in 83 countries in the world and keep opening hotels. We open one hotel each other day. We open one Ibis every three days so it is a very strong expansion. Last year in 2013, we opened roughly 24000 bed rooms and we have in the pipeline, in construction or yet to open more than 35000 bed rooms. The Middle East is a key region and a big potential as we have 34 hotels under development here.
Christophe: For Accor in the region, we will open 27 hotels within the next two years and half but in total, we have over 34 hotels in the pipeline going in to 2017-18.
How do you see development of Accor properties boost the budget segment?
Jean-Jacques: It is true that Accor has 14 brands which range from economy to deluxe hotels. We have one brand to cater to each location. We are well-recognised in the budget segment as we also have three Sofitel properties in Dubai which is in the deluxe segment. We have signed a 600-room hotel which will be the largest Ibis in the region. It is a right opportunity for Accor to demonstrate our strength in the value segment. At the same time, we have also launched our extended stay brand – Adagio. We have four in operation in the region and seven slated to open within the next two years.
Do you see Accor introducing new brands in the region?
Christophe: Of course yes. In 2014, Accor will open 14 properties, out of which 50% will be in the mid-scale level and 25% in the economy level. This follows the demand especially in the UAE with the Expo 2020 coming up. The vision in the long-term is to cater for 20 million tourists that Dubai is targeting. We will introduce new brands hopefully by the end of this year – Ibis Styles – this was just signed it a few weeks ago at Dragon Mart. Each interior design of the hotel is different than the standard Ibis. We will look at extending this brand into Jebel Ali too. We have opened the first Adagio in Fujairah in March, this will be followed by Adagio Al Barsha in September. In June, we will see the opening of Ibis Al Bustan in Abu Dhabi.
Hotels have been placing a lot of focus on technology, how does Accor look at enhancing the guest experience?
Jean-Jacques: The industry has changed a lot over the years. Distribution is a key element today and Accor is investing a lot of money in distribution. We have brought in a new person to lead the marketing and distribution part of the company. We will be soon introducing our distribution plan in June-July which involves a lot of investment. Today, channels have increased such as meta-searches and OTA. We also need to focus on another key area which is brand focus. This is very essential especially through social media platforms. We have new booking channels too, wherein from one platform guests can access all our brands. And finally, we are also working on enhancing our mobile apps.
You have seen a lot of niches being explored such a kids, families and women travellers. Do you see Accor focusing on these segments?
Jean-Jacques: Historically, one of the brands of Accor was dedicated to a great extent on kids – Novotel. The children policy is very strong in this property where kids can stay free. With 14 brands, we have a lot to explore and offer. Keeping this in mind, we have just very recently launched a brand dedicated to the region – The Grand Mercure Majlis. This a five-star brand to be developed in the region. We believe we have space to develop a five-star brand fully dedicated to the region.
Which markets do you see as emerging segments from the global landscape?
Jean-Jacques: Asia Pacific is still booming and 60% of our development is coming from this region – especially China and India. As a hotelier, we look at not just development but also working as a feed to the market. Europe is still is a key market too. This is followed by South America as we are the first hotelier in Brazil and are ready to welcome for the World Cup. This can be followed by Middle East and Africa. In Africa, we are leading in North Africa with 33 hotels. We are coming back in Tunisia and have signed an Ibis there too. In Sub-Saharan Africa, we have strong presence in West Africa but we have to develop Eastern and Central Africa. We have identified 37 key cities, where we can develop our brand especially upscale brands. We would like to double our presence in the Africa market. We currently have 100 hotels and double this number by 2014-15 and mostly in Sub-Saharan countries.
What future development can one expect from Ibis Styles?
Christophe: It is quite difficult to give a number but there is a lot of potential in the new built segment. Ibis Styles has the potential for a take-over hotel so we can imagine a small size hotel too being converted. There could also be a franchise option explored. There other area is the extended brand which has great potential in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
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