Credit: AccorHotels
A NEW name, signature and booking platform are the basis of Accor’s change of direction, one that will focus on greater brand unity but also greater diversity as it embraces independent hotels into its fold.
The name AccorHotels, according to a press release, aims to increase the “clout and visibility” of the group and will be used to strengthen ties with its affiliated properties. It also comes with a new signature – Feel Welcome.
Said Sébastien Bazin, AccorHotels chairman and CEO in a release: “Accor becomes AccorHotels and proudly reassumes its role as a pioneer hotelier that never stops innovating and surprising, at the cutting edge of digital technology, but while remaining a hotelier, first and foremost.
“The Feel Welcome promise is a strong commitment to all our audiences and enriches the bond between the group and its brands.”
AccorHotels is also set to reintroduce its online distribution platform as a booking system to hoteliers in the first target markets at the end of the month, and to consumers in July. The relaunched platform will feature more than 10,000 hotels worldwide, three times the number it currently offers.
Independent hotels will have their day in the sun, distributed alongside AccorHotels’ own brand hotels, if they meet the group’s criteria.
Transparent display rules, access to AccorHotels’ customer data and competitive commission rates, better visibility and an increase in their direct web booking volumes are what AccorHotels is promising independent hoteliers.
The initiative will supplement the services developed by Fastbooking, a company which the group took over in April, that positions AccorHotels as a player in the hotel support services industry.
The group also launched the new version of its mobile app, AccorHotels, which unites all the brand applications and, starting summer, will include independent properties offered on the booking platform.
The app will store flight and travel information, allow e-check-ins and fast check-outs, access to city guides and loyalty programme management.
