What are the aspects that the Accor Group evaluates and analyses when in search for a new structure to be proposed in the market?

We are not investors, but we have been, and in the past we have bought and developed several structures. Therefore, our experience allows us to understand the need for partners and investors to make operations work. What an operator or franchisor must observe are basic aspects such as the quality of the partner and its management capacity, the accessibility of the location, the presence of “demand generators” as museums and attractions of tourist interest but also business like offices, government etc , the quantity and size of the rooms. In this, the right matching between the brand and the project is essential, as it allows to achieve the return on capital expected by the owner. Given our previous experience, we are used to evaluating operations in this sense. The portfolio of the Premium, Midscale & Economy division includes fourteen brands, allowing us to offer flexibility to our investors and adapt to every situation.

In a 2021 interview you said: "At the moment, our lifestyle facilities represent only 5% of the company's total revenew. In pipeline, however, the projection of the fees of the addresses of this segment amounts to as much as 25% of the total potential of the projects under development". How would you define a "lifestyle structure"? Did this prediction eventually coincide with reality? 

What we define as “lifestyle structures” are hotels where over 40% of revenues come from Food & Beverage – an example is our 25hours in Berlin, where the revenue from Food & Beverage is usually around 45 to 50%. What makes the difference are the storytelling composing the hotel, the artworks selection, the design of the rooms and dining spaces. It is about building a storyline as you would for a movie. But this is not all. The intention is also to have a hotel open to the city so as to bring the city inside the hotel. The common areas can thus be experienced by people outside the hotel, and this explains the percentages we mentioned. In addition, there are some side elements that belong to the lifestyle mentality, such as the mobility offered with bicycles and electric cars.

In terms of performance, there has been an increase, as reported in 2021. However, hotel development is also suffering from the higher costs of raw materials, construction and interest rates. Moreover, lifestyle brands are generally more inclined to new developments than to convert hotels. 

In between business travel and smart working, today's hotel industry offers the "workhospitality" model. What are its characteristics?

Last May, Accor’s Masters of Travel advisory board brought together technology, legal, pharmaceutical and energy industry leaders in Brussels to discuss the future of business travel and post-pandemic corporate meetings. The objective of the meeting was to investigate the real value of travel, assessing both the needs and behaviors in terms of environmental, social and governance to better understand the priorities that companies will have to follow in 2024. What emerged most strongly was the convergence of business and leisure, with the consequence of longer stays, as recorded by 67% of customers surveyed by Accor. This flexible model called “travel leisure” is increasingly appreciated and, although it is a practice in its beginnings, it also helps to lower CO2 emissions.

In the Italian hospitality industry there has always been talk of Four Big: Milan, Florence, Rome and Venice. What territories of interest do we find outside this monopoly? Are there prospects of breaking it or is there no real interest for it to happen?

secondary cities such as Trieste, Turin, Genoa and Naples. Then, apart from metropolises, in Italy there is a significant leisure sector, in which we count several sea and mountain destinations. We also see the potential of a wide range of leisure products. The Italian coast in particular is extensive and the potential for a group like ours is important because the existing supply is old and unbranded.  

Sustainability and new technologies: where are we? Beyond the necessary certifications, what are the measures taken by Accor for sustainable development, both environmentally and socially?

As a key player in international hospitality, Accor has ended up leading the industry to participate in a more sustainable future, also collaborating with companies whose values and vision we share. Our group’s commitment in this direction translates into a global transformation that focuses on people and nature, based on three pillars: buildings, food and local ecosystem. For us, reducing environmental impact is a mission that goes beyond reducing carbon emissions and eliminating disposable plastic. It also means using natural resources responsibly, promoting a circular economy, protecting local ecosystems, fostering contact between hotel guests and the territory.

Among our initiatives, we have also introduced the accor key, a digital key that allows access to rooms and hotel spaces via smartphone, thus limiting the use and consumption of plastic cards. In terms of social sustainability, we have launched the Heartist Solidarity programme which commits us to combating the economic and social exclusion of the most vulnerable. Through professional social integration, in 2022 we have supported twenty-eight projects developed by local NGO associations with over 2100 different beneficiaries. We have also supported collaborators and partners who, as a result of the pandemic, found themselves facing major financial difficulties thanks to the ALL HEARTIST fund of 70 million euros, which then expanded its scope of intervention to also help students and refugees. To date we can count 460 interns supported, more than 105,000 applications financed and 35.4 million euros allocated.