Karelle Lamouche, Chief Commercial Officer for Accor's Premium, Midscale & Economy division, addressed the staff at Accor regional meeting, MEA APAC Commercial Days, with a strong message. “The consumer has changed, distribution has changed- We still own the stay of the consumer, no matter what.” Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder of Web in Travel was there and reports the major shift engaged by Accor. This is her article published on her web site https://www.webintravel.com, reproduced with her authorization.
There’s no denying the massive job ahead for Karelle Lamouche as she aligns commercial strategies for Accor’s Premium, Midscale & Economy division, which encompasses 21 different brands and 90 percent of Accor’s portfolio.
Asked if she had lost any sleep since she took on the role of chief commercial officer in January 2023, Lamouche, who joined Accor in 1998 after graduating from l’Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in France, laughed and said, “I am sleeping well because I have a fantastic team.” Lamouche was in Bangkok, meeting her teams during Accor’s “MEA APAC Commercial Days” last week.
The choice of IDeaS as the RMS solution troughout the division
Among the big decisions taken to align strategies and processes was the one taken in March to deploy IDeaS as the global revenue management system software (RMS) provider, across the group’s 5,600 hotels in more than 110 countries.
“We wanted one system to understand business trends in a granular way and use their data to achieve harmonisation across the regions, rather than every region creating something new. We have three big PM&E regions and we can look at what’s working somewhere and apply to other regions.”
Another decision it is taking is to align one media agency across the entire portfolio, and an RFP has been issued. “We have 250 different agencies now, it is not ideal. We are looking for one holding, media company to work with us across the regions on a full funnel strategy,” said Lamouche. “This is a big transformation for the teams.”
Only four major third-party partners for the global distribution
Another transformation is in distribution and control over online rates. “Last year, we decided to stop all static rates worldwide, and we are now only working with four distributors – direct connect – Expedia, Infinite, Webbeds and Hotelbeds,” said Lamouche.
Asked why these four had been chosen, she said, “Because they are the largest and can guarantee the controlling of their distribution and ability to connect to our platform.”
These changes are necessary because said Lamouche, “The consumer has changed. Distribution has changed.”
Direct bookings and loyalty programme at the heart of strategy
Indeed, after 26 years of working in hospitality, she said that while the core of the business has not changed – it remains a true people’s industry – “what’s changed is that once upon a time, 70% of reservations were made by phone, now 80% is fully distributed.
“The distribution of the industry has been completely transformed, and now it will be even more accelerated, when we start integrating AI and automation, and the volume of players increases. There is no such thing as bad distribution – you just have to find the right balance for the right brand in the market.”
It is clear Accor is taking charge of its distribution with an eye to increase direct bookings and grow its loyalty programme, ALL – Accor Live Limitless by ensuring best rates, offering exclusive member benefits and experiences and delivering brand promise during the guest’s stay. Its strategies are showing results, particularly in Asia and the Middle East.
In Accor’s financial results for 2023, these achievements were noted:
+ 42% in new members joining its loyalty programme
+ 29% in revenues from its websites
+ 47% in revenues from its app
+ 26% in revenues from its distributed channels
Turning point in hotel distribution as new opportunities open up
Said Lamouche, “We still own the stay of the consumer, no matter what. There’s so much focus on content and CRM capabilities and new ways of talking to customers in the preferred medium they want – whether it’s WeChat or WhatsApp.”
She sees this moment as a “turning point” in which hotels could own their distribution. She called out “new opportunities coming the industry’s way”, such as Hopper Technology Solutions’ partnerships with banks and credit cards across the world.
“Will these disrupt the OTAs? It comes down to knowing your own customers. We are scaling our own web direct performance, and working on member experiences, for those looking for something special.
“The difference between tech companies and us is, we use tech to enable and facilitate the transaction but our team is in physical contact with our guests. I don’t care what they say about robots, they will never replace the human touch.”
Generative AI will also help hotels with internal processes. “We are already seeing AI transform our content management, translation, revenue management and data capabilities. Agentic AI is being tested in our booking platforms, it’s still early days. Some of our brands, the more tech-enabled brands like Ibis, will be ahead of others.”
A review of the properties according to the standards of each brand
Accor is also in the midst of cleaning up its hotel portfolio to ensure all properties meet brand standards. It has identified 400 hotels under its “PURE” strategy – to either promote, upgrade, renovate or exit. “This is an important part of the group’s ambition,” said Lamouche.
In the area of corporate travel and meetings, Accor has formed the Accor Global Leadership Council (GLC), an advisory board aimed at reimagining the future of the industry. “We held our first meeting in Paris earlier this year and the key takeaway from that is, clients want a one-stop shop. They don’t want their travellers shopping around. They want control for security and costs reasons, and sustainability is a big priority.”
Sustainability is and will be stronger on the agenda
She is optimistic about travel because it’s a fundamentally growing industry. “We are becoming more nomad. Travel is a $7 trillion industry and the expectation is that by 2035, we will double it.”
Her concerns are over the wars and conflicts happening and sustainability. “When I joined the group, we already had a sustainability charter that was signed 25 years prior – so it’s not new to Accor. We need to address it as an industry, or it could be a constraint for travel if not managed properly.”
In places such as Barcelona and Amsterdam, where there have been local protests against tourism, Lamouche said, “We need to look at how to protect local areas and secure the destinations. It does not stop the industry though, consumers are looking for out-of-the-box destinations, and it is our job as marketers through content to promote a broader and wider range of destinations.”
