Innovation & Strategy tomorrow’s hotel industry in question

Both round tables were moderated by Bruno Courtin from the HTR Magazine editorial team. The first one was named: “The Future of the Hotel Industry is Being Decided Now”, and the second one: “The Positioning and Worth of Brands in Groups’ Strategies” Paul Dubrule, Chairman of Maison de la France and cofounder of the Accor Group opened the debate with some invigorating statements. Referring to the basics of the hotel business, he stated “when defining a brand, the level of price asked is vital to determine the level of services associated”. He also insisted “One must not confuse operational marketing which aim is to promote an existing brand, and conceptual marketing, more subtle, which tries to define a product that doesn’t exist and which should answer needs not yet expressed by the customer”. He also recalled that to make a brand evolved it is not to cut it from its roots. An important observation in this context. The role of investment trusts was not ignored: “We have chosen to invest in the hotel industry because it is one of the rare sectors with an optimistic future for at least the next five years. We should act as accelerator of its development,” declared Sébastien Bazin of Colony Capital Europe. But yet the increasing flows of tourists are not without heavy consequences mentioned by Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council: “The challenge is to manage the size of the equipment needed to face these growing flows. One way is to spread the flows of tourists all year long”.The second round table concentrated on the strategies to follow to protect and to promote a brand. Jean-Gabriel Pérès of Mövenpick Hotels explained: “The name of a brand is of little importance. It is more important to create a response in...