#HOF23 - A new era in distribution

8 min reading time

Published on 30/06/23 - Updated on 23/10/24

Saskia Gentil

Saskia Gentil, Senior Vice-President Sales - Europe & North Africa at Accor, revealed the major changes in distribution and customer behaviour post-Covid.

I'm delighted to talk about the positive effects of Covid. Our customers' expectations have changed a great deal. These expectations have in fact been the catalyst for some major trends that we can see today:

  • the first is the seamless digital journey that our customers demand of us;
  • the second is a distribution system where people get lost;
  • the third is customers who are seeking meaning and personalisation and looking for journeys and experiences that reflect who they are.

The sector is doing better and bouncing back. The hotel industry in France is reporting 61% occupancy, which is still lower than in 2019, but we are nonetheless in a very good trend. Some cities have much higher occupancy rates than 2019. These include Rome, Paris, Seoul, and Tokyo. What’s more, customers are spending 17% more than in 2019.

If I look at Accor's hotel trends, RevPAR is -1.1% in Europe compared with 2019 and +7% in France. Why is this? Quite simply because we are being driven by price and by luxury, which is performing very well. That's the first major trend we're seeing here. The second major trend is that there are many more leisure and domestic customers. Why leisure in particular? During Covid, companies travelled less. Covid gave rise to a search for meaning, resulting in more domestic travel. In terms of nationalities, the Americans are coming back and that's good news. On the other hand, Asians are not back yet. As Head of Sales for Europe & North Africa, I predict that by 2023, 50% of our customers will be leisure and 50% business.

Let's now focus on customer expectations. After Covid, the hotel industry in 2023 is nothing like it was in 2019. Our customers' expectations have changed enormously. During Covid, everyone concentrated on safety -...

Accor

Accor

Hotel Group

  • Accor France
  • Offres d'emplois 55 currents job offers
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