Accor tips

Before the pandemic, solo travelers accounted for roughly a third of hotel bookings by inbound travelers. But a push for social interaction and India’s growing reputation as a couples getaway has since led families and couples to take a majority share of inbound bookings, according to travel tech firm RateGain Travel Technologies’ India Inbound Travel Trends report. Family hotel bookings have increased from 4 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to 10.2 percent in the first quarter of 2023. France and Spain are the top origins for families visiting India. Solo bookings have significantly declined in recent years — from 41.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to only 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023. The report studies travelers’ behavior from nine countries, including the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Germany and France. We wonder where the inbound business travelers have gone. Here’s another startling statistic from the RateGain report: the share of female travelers visiting India from developed countries has increased to 49 percent over the past five years. While the share was a little more than 33 percent of all travelers between January and March 2018, it rose by 50 percent to occupy 49 percent of the total share of international travelers between January and March 2023.

In the next few weeks, the largest hotel companies will report their financial performance for the first quarter and provide a glimpse of future trends. Here’s a survey of expectations based on recent reports from investment bank analysts.

For a brand around since 1907, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has suddenly had a lot of activity. In January, parent company Accor installed new Fairmont CEO Mark Willis, who has been leading a rethink of the brand’s strategy. Some of the details about strategy changes will be revealed later this month at a conference with the general managers at the brand’s 86 hotels.

Accor, the Paris-based hotel group, expects a recovery in occupancy rates to pre-pandemic levels will increasingly fuel its revenue growth over the next year. But it will take time to play out.

Chinese hospitality company H World Group – formerly Huazhu – has sold one-fifth of its holding of Indian hospitality company Oyo to United Arab Emirates-based family offices and institutional investors for around $9 million, a source told Skift.

I spent last week at two major hotel conferences, and the most intriguing thing I heard was a couple of hotel executives contemplating the coming competition from financial and tech players.

Accor, Europe’s biggest hotel group, raised its outlook at its capital markets day on Tuesday and forecast its 2023 revenue per room (RevPAR) to grow within a range of 15% to 20% amid reorganisation plans.

Accor plans to open more than 1,200 hotels in the next five years, thus increasing the number of its resorts by more than one-fifth, Europe’s biggest hotel group said on Tuesday as part of its capital markets day.

Accor held a day of presentations on Tuesday in Paris for investment analysts, offering an array of insights into strategy at the $8.7 billion hotel group.

A recent study by travel fintech start-up SanKash has revealed that there has been a whopping 250% surge in solo travel at the start of this year. Travelers are inclined to explore not only themselves but the world at their own pace and preference, without feeling swayed by the whims of fellow travelers, the report said. 

It was a hotel-heavy week at Skift, with stories of Accor’s big investor day as well as reporting from the annual HITEC conference in Toronto. Travel tech reporter Justin Dawes was there to explain the current state of hotel technology, as well as question some of the future ideas.

Accor held a day of presentations for investors on June 27, and I wrote a piece covering 7 top slides from it. Today I want to highlight the most notable 20 minutes of the six hours of talks.

Lifestyle hospitality brand Ennismore has launched a loyalty program with no need to earn points, no tiers to climb, and no need to wait for the rewards — at a typical fee of $216 (£144) a year.

Accor, the Paris-based hotel giant, said Friday it had begun “exclusive” talks with Andera Partners and partner investors to take a 63% stake in Potel & Chabot Group, an events specialist. Until now, Accor had a minority shareholding.

Accor reported on Thursday a profit surge in the first half of the year that it mainly credited to pricing its hotel rooms above inflationary operational costs. Demand swelled across regions and property types.

More Indians are taking personal loans to meet vacation-related expenses, according to the findings of a survey titled ‘How India travels using holiday loans’, conducted by online loan platform Paisabazaar.

It was the first big week of earnings this season, with numbers out of Accor, Google, Hilton, Southwest, Wyndham, and Royal Caribbean. They were, for the most part, upbeat – Hilton’s CEO said, “We had the best booking quarter in our history, ever.” One note: Google Travel was low on Google’s priorities.

Accor said on Monday that it had named Gilda Perez-Alvarado as its group chief strategy officer in charge of overseeing global strategy, relations with hotel owners, and strategic partnerships.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, August 15. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Ennismore is a forerunner in the lifestyle space, with hotel, resort, and coworking brands — plus the Rixos all-inclusive brand, Paris Society venues, and dozens of restaurants and bars. The fastest-growing lifestyle hospitality company has 16 brands, with 137 hotels and resorts and over 160 in the pipeline.