
Aggressive asset-light expansion in developing markets has led to a gross revenue increase of 6.4% for Accor in Q1, for hotels under one of the brands. However, revenue for Accor itself decreased by 0.1%, due to a slow-down in Economy brands, mostly in Southern Europe.
Accor’s first quarter resulted in a 0.1% drop in revenue to 1 227 million euros. The economy segment was largely at fault for this decline, as revenue in that segment decreased 1.8% like-for-like, while the midscale and upscale segments actually slightly increased by .7% like-for-like.However, aggressive asset-light expansion in developing markets helped to alleviate the drop. 50% of the 4 628 new rooms that Accor added to its portfolio in Q1 are located in emerging markets. 85% of the new supply is under asset-light structures. Revenue from this strategy rose 18.2% this quarter, to €134 million from fees received from managed and franchised hotels, helping to stabilize Q1 results.To date, Accor is present in 92 countries with more than 3 500 hotels, which represents over 450 000 rooms.