Discover the highlights of our Think Tank on the Hospitality Industry, held last Monday at the Intercontinental Paris le Grand in Paris, France.
The positive impacts of Covid-19 on the industry. Vanguélis Panayotis, CEO of MKG Consulting & Hospitality ON:
After the shock of Covid, then the rebound and the joy we experienced because of it, we are now seeing a return to normality.
I wish us all success in holding this average price line.
The strategy of raising rates at Central Bank- or Fed-level is helping to slow the economy and inflation.
The good news is that the brand offer continues to grow significantly.
A new era of leisure and the numerous opportunities for the hotel industry. Olivier Babeau, economist and Chairman of the Institut Sapiens.
The problem of the 21st century is that we are in the midst of a rapid acceleration, and we are finding it increasingly difficult to understand a world that is changing too fast.
With science, we can predict fairly well what we will be able to do. On the other hand, it is very difficult to predict how society will change as a result of technology.
Our children's brains are our main assets.
We have to face up to the tyranny of entertainment. Since 1992, we have moved from an industrial society to an entertainment society.
This is where tourism comes in as a solution to the problem because it gets us out of the house.
MKG Insight - Management: The new normal. Adrien Lanotte, Senior Analyst, MKG Consulting:
One of the things that has changed is the rise of digital players such as Booking, Expedia, Ctrip, and Trivago.
It's important to dialogue with users before their stay.
Since Covid ended, there has been a sharp rise in permanent-contract recruitment.
F&B has returned to the heart of the hotel industry.
The boundaries are breaking down, and we can see that the world of hospitality has expanded to include other professions.
We need to look for new business models and new areas of expertise, particularly through partnerships.
Since Covid, the big change that we have seen in operational terms is that of lifestyle habits.
Hoteliers are fighting for available time, which has increased. So, we have to ask ourselves the following question: how can we capture this greater available leisure time?
What is luxury in 2023? Eric Viale, Managing Director, Southern Europe at IHG Hotels & Resorts, Guillaume de Saint Lager, Vice-President of Orient Express, Accor, Guy Bertaud of Maison Pariente, and Nicolas Chatillon from the Les Etincelles group:
Demand from luxury customers is changing very quickly.
We need to redefine our employer brand and have a positive impact on society.
We need collection products to attract leisure consumers.
The dream of luxury is no longer enough. We need to sell a real philosophy and brand values to attract the best candidates.
We need to move from a product approach to a customer approach.
Adapting to remain a leader. Alexis Boudran, Development Director, Pierre & Vacances:
We are operators, not owners.
Pierre & Vacances is involved in lease management contracts and leasing. It also owns around ten franchises.
What works in our favour is that we have remained in France and offer some very fine products.
We plan to open 2,900 new apartments by 2026.
CSR: one person, one solution. Benjamin Altaras, Hospitality CEO at Turenne Capital, Nathalie Bel Baussant, Director of the Sustainable Tourism Unit at Pavillon Bleu, Gaspard de Moustier, Co-Founder of CoucooCabanes, and Inge Huijbrechts, Global Senior Vice-President Sustainability, Security, and Corporate Communications at Radisson Hotel Group:
CSR is our job, not our customers'. We need to involve them, but not make them feel guilty.
We need to work on soft mobility and the preservation of biodiversity in order to have a positive impact on the destination in which we operate.
In terms of inclusion, everyone has increased their compliance with reduced mobility standards, bearing in mind that 20% of the population has a disability.
We need to measure our actions to see how effective they really are.
Tourism is being unfairly attacked, even though there is a real desire to make progress.
Next Gen Session: Their views on topical issues. Solenne Ojea Devys, CEO of OKKO Hotels, Hélène Gauthier, CEO of Honotel, Romain Gowhari, Deputy Managing Director - Co-Founder & Managing Director of VICARTEM - Younight Hospitality, and Eric Omgba, Co-Founder of Alboran Hospitality:
You can't do lifestyle in every hotel. There are locations where it makes sense and others where it doesn't.
We are here to serve the hotels and their employees. Not the other way round.
We must ensure that the working conditions are good for every position.
There must be no conflict between hotel and restaurant customers, so as not to frustrate hotel customers.
People want to have an experience when they travel. As such, stays are starting to get longer.
We have to accept higher prices than what we had before.
We are one of the few industries where people join because they are passionate about it.
The heavy burden of rules and regulations and how to make the most of them. Jean-Virgile Crance, President of the Confédération des Acteurs du Tourisme and Marie Audren, CEO of Hotrec:
More than just an economic role, tourism also has a societal role. Our job is to raise awareness of the tourism ecosystem.
For private rental, there needs to be transparency, fairness, and understanding.
The attractiveness of a region is linked to what it has to offer, and diversity is part of that.
A human resources vision for 2023. Olivier Cohn, CEO of BWH℠ Hotels:
In the wake of the Covid crisis, our staff have lost some skills and we're finding it even harder to recruit. So, we set up an initial training model.
These training courses enable employees to progress or improve their skills.
Our aim is to roll out training courses to enable our employees to develop or upgrade their skillsets.
A new era in distribution. Saskia Gentil, Senior Vice-President Sales - Europe and North Africa, Accor:
We don't talk enough about the positive effects of Covid: the sector is doing better and is recovering.
At Accor, we are being driven by the price and luxury segment, which are both doing very well.
The hotel industry in 2023 will be nothing like it was in 2019. Customers' expectations have changed a great deal, and they expect flexibility.
Customers are above all looking for respect for the environment. 50% of customers check to see if the hotel has put in place measures in favour of sustainable development.
In the wake of Covid, digital technology has accelerated. Customers want to be able to book everything from their phone.
We need to adopt dynamic pricing, which means managing the flow of requests and turning them into profit.
The ambitions of B&B HOTELS. Fabrice Collet, President & CEO:
We have an extraordinary RevPAR, at least for budget hotels.
We must never give up the fight for quality and investment.
There's a very strong consumer effect in the midscale segment because people tend to go to a luxury hotel one day and then a budget hotel the next. Offering something in between is a tricky business.
Tomorrow's winners in the hotel industry will be those who manage to bring together the brand and the assets under a single banner.
The final word. Vanguélis Panayotis, CEO of MKG Consulting & Hospitality ON:
We have an industry that is cut out for all crises, with a capacity to bounce back very quickly because the service we offer meets a real need.
We're at the heart of what makes people tick, and that's what's going to set up apart from ChatGPT.
Our sector has some formidable tools with which to make innovations in terms of the organisation of work.
Paris
