Accor, a global hotel group based in France, continues to grow luxury brands in North America and expand its comprehensive offerings in Central America and other brands.
The always outspoken executive said that because of the nature and diversity of the group’s brand, travel deals should consider “their best partner” as “their best partner.” He said, “I am French and I have never attended the annual Virtuoso Conference because it will be held in August.
Looking back, Bazin said Accor has spent the last eight years “doing a dirty job” of accumulating 47 brands and is now in a good position to meet the needs of travelers. He is optimistic about the growth of tourism around the world due to the emergence of the middle class and the development of air travel.
Asked about geopolitical issues, Bazin said, “As a Frenchman, I’m worried, but as Accor’s CEO, this is not the case.” He explained, “Europe will continue to welcome Americans, and America will continue to welcome Europeans.”
He said he is not worried about the imposition of tariffs as Accor is a service company that does not buy or sell goods, so tariffs do not affect it.
Accor has many mid-scale and limited service brands, but Bazin said that major brands like Marriott, Hilton, Wyndham and Choice dominate the market and do a good job, so they don’t grow these products in North America. However, he said the company’s luxury brand will continue to grow. He said the Boston Raffles, which opened a few years ago, was “an incredible success” and promoted the highest rates in the city.
Bazin said there would be no locations for dozens of raffles in North America, and they are not in secondary or tertiary cities. He said there were questions in the industry about North America’s first raffles being a high-rise building due to the brand’s long legacy. But he added, “We were bold and we were growing our brand and have no regrets.”
According to Omer Acar, CEO of Raffles & Fairmont, the company is having high-level discussions about Raffles from Beverly Hills, Miami and Mayakoba in Mexico. He said the announcement will come in the next quarter.
Raffle Boston. (Photo credit: Accor Media)
Badzin said the company also hopes to add hotels and ski resorts under the Fairmont brand. Fairmont Breakers Long Beach, which opened in November, said Badzin is a model for what the brand will look like. He said Fairmont is “a very solid mouse (meeting, incentive, meeting, expo) product.
He doesn’t think Accor can compete in several categories in regions such as North America and China, but Bazin said the company is the dominant player around the world and will continue to grow in Africa, Asia and Australia. “There are 350,000 rooms in Europe,” he said.
Bazin said about expanding US lifestyle brands, Ennismore, a joint venture with Accor, has 17 lifestyle brands, including those that began in the US, including Mondrian, Delano and SLS. He added that there may be opportunities to develop these brands in the US market.
For all inclusive, Bazin said the products are looking for different types of expertise. As such, Accor will depend on the management capabilities of Rixos Hotels, which is part of its joint venture with Accor. He said Cancun is all inclusive of SLS, which is “successfully beyond our expectations.” He said there are six or seven brands that are all inclusive and viable. “We only realized five or six years ago,” Bazin said.
Bazin said international long distance travel has dropped by a third after the pandemic due to Zoom and the team. He said the CEO would instruct employees to start with Zoom and the team and determine if the trip is worth it. However, he added, “I travel less, but I stay longer.”
With AI, Bazin said Accor has been working with technology companies that have been deploying AI for 10 years. But he said it’s too early to see how it unfolds – whether that would affect hotel operators, whether it’s Expedia and the rest of Booking.com. “It’s getting bigger, but it’s not catastrophic,” Badin said.
Bazin said the loyalty program is probably the best tool for interacting with customers, and Accor’s program is about to add 111 million people last year. He said royalty members would spend twice as much and stay 50% longer.
Bazin also noted that Accor has been ordered by two Orient Express Yachts and is entering the cruise business with two more options. He said he is spending “unbalanced” time on the Orient Express brand because it’s his “baby.” He said he would wait to see what this would turn out before the company moved to other cruise brands.
In the past, Accor was used to open 365 hotels a year, and now they have opened 300 due to the focus now on opening profitable properties. He also said sustainability is important by balancing how much the company costs the hotel to the community in terms of resources such as electricity and water, and how much it contributes in terms of employment and economic impact. “Positives must outweigh negativity,” he said.
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