"We believe that there is a real space to exploit in this new budget accommodation market"

Innovation at the heart of Grape Hospitality's DNA

Frédéric Josenhans: I reread an editorial that Vanguelis Panayotis wrote in 2018 in which he said that the future was the hybrid hotel industry and that it was time for everyone to get on board and move forward. That's what I want to talk to you about today. How Grape Hospitality has embraced this hybrid hotel model that we believe is the future of the budget hotel industry.

At Grape Hospitality we are unique in that our business is to own, operate, transform, innovate, perform and provide a great place to work for our teams. We don't just operate our own brands, we are also a major franchisee of Accor, InterContinental Hotel Group and Louvre Hotels.

We believe that catering is a major element of the hotel industry of both today and tomorrow. We know how to do it on our own, but we also know how to do it with franchise partners in certain hotels.

We are rather opportunistic depending on the location and the market, but always behind that is this desire to transform and to respond to new customer expectations. Sometimes we couldn't find what we were looking for, so we created our brands based on these opportunities, such as The People, Demeure de Campagne, Birgit Hotel, as well as some restaurant concepts.

Our model is based on innovation and the creation of value on the premises, fund management and operations because we are first and foremost real estate owners.

The golden age of standardisation

Our analysis of the economic market in France has enabled us to see an enormous standardisation with the creation of brands such as ibis, B&B, MEININGER and Campanile. These brands still have many years to live and to perform on the market and we...