#GLF19 | "There is a contradiction in the independent hotel business, between a determination to consolidate and pool on the one hand, and on the other to remain each on their own side"

How are you bringing your hoteliers into the digital era?

Isabelle Rochelandet: The switch to digital necessarily takes more time depending on whether it is for franchises or consortia. It must be done internally and then hoteliers need to be convinced to adopt it. It all begins with the mother company, first technological investment. At Choice, we are developing through internal ressources: first we "create at home", then we develop. We have a new CRS, and our first goal is for 100% connectivity: all our properties must be connected with our CRS, either through the house PMS or interfaces, in order to be able have a unique inventory and avoid disparities and incoherence in terms of visibility and  rates. But it is also about rebuilding Internet sites. The biggest risk when you begin to invest in digital is that there is cannibalisation, and expenditures in digital go to waste. We also worked on the "customer journey", which consists in following the customer's itinerary, becoming a part of it from the outset. Just under two years ago we created an inspirational website: Travel Top 6. It does not send clients directly to hotels, but makes them want to move, to discover, to meet, to visit… This will make it possible, in the end, to bring clientele back to the hotels, because one travels not just for a hotel but above all for the destination.

Marc Plisson: It was necessary to evangelize our hoteliers regarding the advantages and benefits of digital. The most difficult was to make everyone understand the tool, its usefulness and put it to work. There is such as diversity of hoteliers that it was very difficult to make it widely accepted. It has been accepted in terms of reservations, but evangelization remains to be done on the social networks.

Karim Soleihavoup: We have all...