The Moxy brand in particular is spearheading this growth, with no fewer than 3 openings planned. These include the openings of Moxy Annecy and Moxy Paris Clamart scheduled for 2024, followed by the addition of Moxy Nice, scheduled for the end of 2025. The brand is already well established in France, with 9 hotels and almost 1,500 keys.

Alexandra Goguet, vice-president of development for France and Benelux at Marriott International: To accelerate its growth, the Marriott group has given a great deal of thought to how it can adapt to the specific characteristics of Europe. This is now bearing fruit. When I arrived at Marriott, there had already been a major change at the time, which was to create continents and teams of decision-makers for each continent.

In EMEA, a lot of work had already been done to adapt the concepts. In fact, I think that if Moxy has seen the light of day, it's because this adaptation has taken place.

The most eagerly awaited inauguration remains the Hôtel du Couvent, a Luxury Collection hotel in Nice, which is part of an adaptive re-use project for a convent built in 1604. This project, carried out in collaboration with Studio Mumbai, Studio Méditerranée and Festen Architecture, has resulted in the creation of 88 luxury rooms and suites.

Alexandra Goguet: 10 years ago, the French market developed mainly through new builds. Today we have 1/3 conversions, 25% adaptations of existing buildings into hotels, and the rest are new builds. This breakdown has changed a great deal, and I think it simply reflects a more pragmatic approach and a greater willingness to adapt.

Another example of adaptation is the opening of the Aloft in Dijon.

Alexandra Goguet: It's the former post office building, which gives us a premium location by adapting existing buildings. We had to adapt to offices in a magnificent historic building, with high ceilings and bull's-eyes. Therefore, we created mezzanine rooms. This remains consistent with a loft concept. We looked for solutions to maximise the number of rooms in this historic building while retaining the character of the place.

Other announced openings include the Residence Inn by Marriott Lille, the Courtyard by Marriott Lyon East and the Tribute Portfolio hotel in Mougins. The pipeline also includes a Tribute Portfolio hotel in Monaco, with an existing franchisee, as well as a 120-room AC by Marriott in Toulouse and a Moxy in Le Havre.

The reopening of the flagship Paris Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel & Conference Center is also a highlight for the group this year, with the hotel revealing the new Marriott Great Room lobby, demonstrating the American giant's ambition to optimise its offering in its European properties.

Evolving profiles of partner owners and investors

Alexandra Goguet: Today, our partners are no longer just large private equity funds or institutional investors. We are developing more and more through franchising. In France, we are fortunate to have a market with a huge number of highly structured, highly competent players, often with multiple brands. These players, these white label operators, are a growth driver for us. There are often private families behind these partner profiles.

We're also developing smaller hotels, which means we can build up a network in France that gives us access to other more French and heritage-based players.

We have brands that are extremely standardised and we have also developed brands that are much less so. At the beginning of the year, we launched Four Point Express by Sheraton, which is a very flexible brand, as is Four Point by Sheraton. We offer collection brands which also allow us to be more flexible while giving access to the commercial strength and power of the Marriott group.