The 18th edition of the Global Lodging Forum is taking place right now at the Bristol in Paris. The two days of discussion are focused on the industry's hot topics, featuring keynote speakers, expert panels as well as exclusive presentations about the activity and the industry.
9 h - “A brand is a spearhead for conquering new territories, a shield against the banalization of distribution and a pennant for pour rallying customer memberships and loyalty.” Georges Panayotis, CEO MKG Group
10:00 - Panel : Are franchisor-franchisee and investor-manager relationships getting tougher with the digital economy?
"We cannot limit the risks of the hotel industry to distribution alone," Christophe Alaux, CEO Accor France.
"Franchisees have expectations for distribution as well as other subjects such as customer satisfaction," Olivier Cohn, CEO Best Western France.
"The role of franchisees is to make concepts evolve," Loïc Giroud, CEO Sogepar.
"My only obsession with my franchiser is the OTA", Olivier Pelat, president Europequipements.
"The customer continues to have priority and is looking first and foremost for a good quality/price ratio," Olivier Carvin, President Groupe Maranatha.
11h00 - Participation Yves CARCELLE, Vice President, Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création
"Several points are important for the luxury and hotel industries: a certain number of people are increasingly wealthy and are ready to spend greater sums of money; there is growing demand for personalized products such as services; globalization is gaining importance and we must constantly ask what the destinations of tomorrow will be.”
12h00 - Panel: What is the acceptable level of brand flexibility for international development?
15h15 - Speaker Jacques-Antoine Granjon, Founder & CEO vente-privee.com
"E-commerce makes it possible for anyone to open a boutique and sell things there. All the products of the world if one wishes to grow it infinitely, and where the whole world may shop."
"Four pillars are fundamental to e-commerce: IT, without which nothing would be possible; production as all products must be photographed and put online even if they will not be purchased online; logistics to ensure the customer will receive the product or service; and customer service, which creates the brand’s image and quality."
16h - Panel: How to maintain and consolidate the direct relationship with clients
"Clearly hoteliers have not focused on customer relations in recent years. Therefore it is necessary to adopt a new economic model," Eric de Neef, Senior Vice President Marketing & CRM Global Branding, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
"Our job is to develop hotel bands through which we can develop strong customer relations. Consumer freedom in no way prevents loyalty. The customer needs signs of recognition,” Georges Sampeur, Chairman of the Board at B&B Hotels
"We hear a lot about consumer confidence concerning peers. It is not a passing fashion but a real essential trend," Krystel Blondeau, Managing Director of the Fédération Internationale des Logis.
"In order to be used, a loyalty program must be simple for the consumer to understand and use," Jean Lavergne, Chairman of the Board of Directors, SEH.
"The best customer service is not found on Facebook or TripAdvisor but right in hotels. The most important is to answer questions and resolve problems," Jean-Pierre Nadir, founder Easyvoyage.
"It is necessary to choose how one invests today. Investments cannot be made everywhere and it is important to get back to making choices that use common sense such as customer relations," Martine Granier, director of the Travel Division at Vente-privée.com
"We use Facebook to make customers dream. We showcase 1% to 2% of the properties from our website that are not necessarily the ones the customer will reserve but they will inspire dreams. Facebook is a window," Nicolas Ferrary, Director France Airbnb.
17h15 - Speaker: Nicolas Baverez, economist
"The gap is not between north and south but between those that are able to be competitive, change, and adapt; and the others."
Panel: IT tools, threat or opportunity?
"Last minute sales that are related to the growth of mobile device will become so big that it will be necessary to develop a pricing strategy that can be adjusted each minute" Nicolas Salin, CEO & co-founder VeryLastRoom.com.
"The job of OTAs is to bring added value to hoteliers through technology," Veit Fuhrmeister, Senior regional director Central & Eastern Europe, Expedia.
"There is no question of having higher rates than elsewhere, particularly with corporate clients," Olivier Mouchet, Director of International Operations, HRS
"Pricing parity only makes sense if we keep clients informed," Daniel Kerzner, VP Digital, Loyalty & Partnership Marketing (EAME), Starwood Hotels & Resorts..
"Hoteliers are asking how they can use digital to transform their customer relations and are looking at how they can work with Google," Thomas Steinbrecher, Head of Travel, Google France.
"The power of Smartphones makes the hotel experience a better experience," Heather Leisman, managing director EMEA, HotelTonight.
10:00 - Panel : Are franchisor-franchisee and investor-manager relationships getting tougher with the digital economy?
"We cannot limit the risks of the hotel industry to distribution alone," Christophe Alaux, CEO Accor France.
"Franchisees have expectations for distribution as well as other subjects such as customer satisfaction," Olivier Cohn, CEO Best Western France.
"The role of franchisees is to make concepts evolve," Loïc Giroud, CEO Sogepar.
"My only obsession with my franchiser is the OTA", Olivier Pelat, president Europequipements.
"The customer continues to have priority and is looking first and foremost for a good quality/price ratio," Olivier Carvin, President Groupe Maranatha.
11h00 - Participation Yves CARCELLE, Vice President, Fondation Louis Vuitton pour la Création
"Several points are important for the luxury and hotel industries: a certain number of people are increasingly wealthy and are ready to spend greater sums of money; there is growing demand for personalized products such as services; globalization is gaining importance and we must constantly ask what the destinations of tomorrow will be.”
12h00 - Panel: What is the acceptable level of brand flexibility for international development?
"B&B has flexible DNA. We have begun to develop in Germany with products that are adapted to the market and then we rolled out the concept to other countries such as Poland," Laurent Bonnefous, Chief Development Officer at B&B Hôtels.
"International development is limited for Premier Inn and we are acting in a small number of selective markets such as India and the Middle East, where we are working with investor partners," David Vely, Senior Vice President Development Middle East & Africa at Whitbread.
"One of the reasons why the brand Radisson Blu is growing rapidly in Europe is that it has a strong capacity to adapt to the different markets," Elie Younes, Senior Vice President The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
"Standardized brands appeared when the hotel industry was in bad shape and customers needed a sense of security. It was also a way to achieve an economy of scale. Today customers no longer need to be reassured and asset light has reduced the interest of this model," Christian Karaoglanian, Chief Development Officer Accor.
"The more a product is positioned on an economy range the more rigid it is; the higher the range the more flexible it is," Mathieu Evrard, Chief Development Officer, Louvre Hotels Group.
"A certain amount of homogeneity is necessary, but it is also necessary to be open-minded and not be a brand fundamentalist closed to local adaptations such as breakfasts," David Heijligers, senior director Development France & Benelux, Hilton Worldwide.
"Our brands were born on the American market but are developing in Europe. We therefore must be increasingly flexible, but without giving up our identity," Bettina Bamert, Director Conversion, Marriott International & The Ritz-Carlton Company LLC.
"International development is limited for Premier Inn and we are acting in a small number of selective markets such as India and the Middle East, where we are working with investor partners," David Vely, Senior Vice President Development Middle East & Africa at Whitbread.
"One of the reasons why the brand Radisson Blu is growing rapidly in Europe is that it has a strong capacity to adapt to the different markets," Elie Younes, Senior Vice President The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
"Standardized brands appeared when the hotel industry was in bad shape and customers needed a sense of security. It was also a way to achieve an economy of scale. Today customers no longer need to be reassured and asset light has reduced the interest of this model," Christian Karaoglanian, Chief Development Officer Accor.
"The more a product is positioned on an economy range the more rigid it is; the higher the range the more flexible it is," Mathieu Evrard, Chief Development Officer, Louvre Hotels Group.
"A certain amount of homogeneity is necessary, but it is also necessary to be open-minded and not be a brand fundamentalist closed to local adaptations such as breakfasts," David Heijligers, senior director Development France & Benelux, Hilton Worldwide.
"Our brands were born on the American market but are developing in Europe. We therefore must be increasingly flexible, but without giving up our identity," Bettina Bamert, Director Conversion, Marriott International & The Ritz-Carlton Company LLC.
15h15 - Speaker Jacques-Antoine Granjon, Founder & CEO vente-privee.com
"E-commerce makes it possible for anyone to open a boutique and sell things there. All the products of the world if one wishes to grow it infinitely, and where the whole world may shop."
"Four pillars are fundamental to e-commerce: IT, without which nothing would be possible; production as all products must be photographed and put online even if they will not be purchased online; logistics to ensure the customer will receive the product or service; and customer service, which creates the brand’s image and quality."
16h - Panel: How to maintain and consolidate the direct relationship with clients
"Clearly hoteliers have not focused on customer relations in recent years. Therefore it is necessary to adopt a new economic model," Eric de Neef, Senior Vice President Marketing & CRM Global Branding, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.
"Our job is to develop hotel bands through which we can develop strong customer relations. Consumer freedom in no way prevents loyalty. The customer needs signs of recognition,” Georges Sampeur, Chairman of the Board at B&B Hotels
"We hear a lot about consumer confidence concerning peers. It is not a passing fashion but a real essential trend," Krystel Blondeau, Managing Director of the Fédération Internationale des Logis.
"In order to be used, a loyalty program must be simple for the consumer to understand and use," Jean Lavergne, Chairman of the Board of Directors, SEH.
"The best customer service is not found on Facebook or TripAdvisor but right in hotels. The most important is to answer questions and resolve problems," Jean-Pierre Nadir, founder Easyvoyage.
"It is necessary to choose how one invests today. Investments cannot be made everywhere and it is important to get back to making choices that use common sense such as customer relations," Martine Granier, director of the Travel Division at Vente-privée.com
"We use Facebook to make customers dream. We showcase 1% to 2% of the properties from our website that are not necessarily the ones the customer will reserve but they will inspire dreams. Facebook is a window," Nicolas Ferrary, Director France Airbnb.
17h15 - Speaker: Nicolas Baverez, economist
"The gap is not between north and south but between those that are able to be competitive, change, and adapt; and the others."
Panel: IT tools, threat or opportunity?
"Last minute sales that are related to the growth of mobile device will become so big that it will be necessary to develop a pricing strategy that can be adjusted each minute" Nicolas Salin, CEO & co-founder VeryLastRoom.com.
"The job of OTAs is to bring added value to hoteliers through technology," Veit Fuhrmeister, Senior regional director Central & Eastern Europe, Expedia.
"There is no question of having higher rates than elsewhere, particularly with corporate clients," Olivier Mouchet, Director of International Operations, HRS
"Pricing parity only makes sense if we keep clients informed," Daniel Kerzner, VP Digital, Loyalty & Partnership Marketing (EAME), Starwood Hotels & Resorts..
"Hoteliers are asking how they can use digital to transform their customer relations and are looking at how they can work with Google," Thomas Steinbrecher, Head of Travel, Google France.
"The power of Smartphones makes the hotel experience a better experience," Heather Leisman, managing director EMEA, HotelTonight.
