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2013, a year of growth for the SEH

2 min reading time

Published on 31/03/14 - Updated on 17/03/22

Auberge Ostapé Relais du Silence

The Société Européenne d'Hôtellerie ended the year with a global turnover for reservation centers up by 7.1% and 50 new members in its network.

In the difficult economic context of 2013, the Société Européenne d'Hôtellerie (SEH) posted a global turnover of 58.8 million euros, up by 7.1% with respect to last year. This figure may be compared to the estimated business volume of 450 million euros for hotels that are members of the cooperative in 2013.

The multibrand reservation center of SEH generated 24.5 million euros in revenues, as well as 1.5 million euros from the groups and seminars service that was created recently. As for the loyalty card Accent, which was revised and improved in 2013, it contributed around 32.8 million euros. Its more systematic distribution within the network and its opening to the brand Relais du Silence allowed it to grow by 24,000 new clients on the period to reach today's figure of 110,000 card members.

In terms of development, 2013 saw the arrival of 50 new hotels, including 41 in France and 9 in Europe: 18 Relais du Silence, 9 Qualys-Hotel including a first international hotel in Milan, 20 Inter-Hotel, and 3 P'tit Dej-Hotel. Despite the departure of 56 properties (17 were excluded for not respecting norms or financial regulations), SEH maintained its supply of about 550 properties across all brands, and close to 20,000 rooms. The president Jean Lavergne is pleased with the stronger presence in priority areas such as Lyon, the Western France and the Paris Region.

In 2014, the priority is digitization and will remain so for the next two years. It will take place through the creation of a multi-brand booking portal, SEH Hotels, the remaking of 4 individual sites of brands and the creation of a new e-business solution. This veritable "Swiss knife" approach to online distribution is called SEH Box. It makes it possible to manage planning from a single interface, to be open on all the listed channels, to manage the pricing and promotions strategy and to incorporate the loyalty program and customer relations. It is already being used by more than 150 properties of the 550 SEH hoteliers that will all eventually be connected.

The distribution challenge is the major challenge run into by the cooperative which will heavily invest to redirect a maximum of sales toward direct sites, to avoid as much as possible any loss to third party sites. The other goal is to become more international and this has been worked on for two years. Although it is slower than other brands, Relais du Silence is well on its way in this direction. The president of the SEH also plans to pursue external growth through partnerships with other French and European groups. "We have begun several discussions, but they often result in culture clashes. We want to be sure there will be a harmonious integration".
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