Interview with Pierre Lecat, Chief Marketing Officer at AccorLocal

Establishing local roots to generate sales from non-hotel guests now represents a major strategic focus for hotels and restaurants. The Accor group has clearly understood this, and since 2015 has embarked on a decisive turnaround. Interview with Pierre Lecat, CMO at AccorLocal.

The AccorHotels group, owner of a portfolio of over 4,000 hotels (including the Ibis, Novotel, Pullman, Mercure and Sofitel brands) in 95 countries, is currently undergoing a major transformation. At the end of 2014, it announced the implementation of a vast digital plan focused on mobile and customer experience. Its objectives? Resist the new players in the sector, identify the best growth opportunities for the group... and seize them!

Background information

In recent years, the hotel world has seen the emergence of formidable competitors with new logics. Airbnb is a prime example. The American company, which originally offered authentic accommodation between private individuals, began a diversification strategy several years ago. Since 2016, it has been strengthening its local roots by offering the opportunity to take part in experiences and activities organized by the platform alongside a variety of local partners.

NoDietClub, a couple of influencers, organize atypical tours of Paris and London via Airbnb, visiting the two capitals' most famous fast-food restaurants.

Concerts, dance or yoga classes, pottery or cooking workshops, guided tours... the range of experiences offered by Airbnb is highly varied and designed to give users the opportunity to experience new journeys.

The launch of AccorLocal, a service available via mobile application and dedicated website, is part of this changing market. It offers individuals, not necessarily hotel guests, access to local services available in the establishment (buffet breakfast, access to the gym, swimming pool, etc.). The aim?Pierre Lecat, Chief Marketing Officer at AccorLocal, talks in this interview about the group's new challenges, and more generally about the challenges that the hotel industry has been facing for several years.

AccorLocal's mission and offering

• Malou What are the main challenges facing AccorHotels today, and how does AccorLocal fit in?

Pierre Lecat The AccorHotels group has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and is now seeking to establish itself in a new dynamic. In recent years, it has had to face up to the arrival of new competitors on the market, Airbnb and Booking.com in particular, which have shaken up the sector and transformed it in depth.Faced with these developments, we believe that we need to propose a new vision of the hotel business, one that is more consistent with the world in which we are evolving, and that will shake up the group's habits.It was from this desire that AccorLocal was born. Our starting point was the observation that hotels interact far too little with the outside world. Customers walk past their local establishments every day without identifying them as places to live and share. With AccorLocal, we want to transform this vision shared by most French people by developing and multiplying interactions with local residents, to the point of making them frequent and habitual. AccorLocal's aim is to anchor hotels in the spaces where people live together, transforming them into experiential rather than transient places.

• Malou : And how many establishments are available on the app?

Pierre Lecat : Today, we work with 230 of the group's hotels. For the time being, these are mainly hotels in Paris and its suburbs, but we are also present in some 50 towns in France. We're just starting out in the French market, but our aim is to expand beyond France's borders.

• Malou : What are you proposing within the hotels to bring this vision to fruition?

Pierre Lecat: In concrete terms, we offer two types of activity in our hotels:

1. Activities linked to services already offered in the establishments: I'm thinking in particular of gyms, breakfast services and food-related services in general (brunch, tea time...)...
2. And activities that require the introduction of new services, thanks to carefully selected partners: yoga, pilates and bodytech, for example, are activities that we have developed in many establishments.

These activities are available on our website and app. All users have to do is book the activity they wish to enjoy. There are two main objectives behind the introduction of these activities. The first is to transform the hotel into an experiential space, and thus change the way the French think about these places. The second is to find a new financial dynamic for the group. This involves optimizing unoccupied spaces, of which there are many in hotel establishments, such as gardens, parking lots, meeting rooms and so on.

AccorLocal responds to demand in the field

• Malou : Are hoteliers receptive to this value proposition?

Pierre Lecat Pierre Lecat: The group's hotels are under no obligation to work with us. All those listed on the application and on the website are hotels that have volunteered. The number is growing all the time, because since the app was launched, we've had nothing but positive feedback from hoteliers.AccorLocal is actually responding to a demand from staff working in these establishments: they want to transform their workspaces, which they suffer from being stealthy. They now want to turn them into real living spaces.

• Malou : Had any hotels already taken steps to transform these spaces before you started working with them?

Pierre Lecat Yes, one of the activities we're very proud of, and which works particularly well with local populations, was set up by a Novotel before we started working together. As the hotel's kitchens were not occupied throughout the day, the staff working there suggested setting up cooking classes for the children. It's a privileged moment of exchange that delights both the cooks and the commis d'un jour. Seeing that the initiative was a real success, we decided not only to integrate this service into our offerings, but also to duplicate it in other partner hotels. This is one of the many activities we develop for children. It's one of the many activities we're developing for children . They're a key area of development for us, as they enable us to reach parents at the same time, who can also enjoy one of our services, such as a drink or tea time.

The food offer, a major challenge for hotels

• Malou I imagine that food and beverage services are particularly strategic for you?

Pierre Lecat Food and beverage is one of AccorLocal's main challenges. As I was saying, AccorLocal's aim is to fill unoccupied hotel rooms, and restaurants are one of those spaces. The idea is to change the habits and preconceived ideas of the French, who still don't have the reflex to go to a hotel for a meal or a drink, even though we have quality offerings available.

• Malou In your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of a restaurant located within a hotel establishment?

Pierre Lecat I think it ' s more interesting for them to develop their own brand - from logo to name - so that they can develop their own identity. This will enable them to overcome the reluctance of the French to eat in hotels. The idea might be to create a restaurant brand specific to the hotel group. I'm thinking of Novotel, for example, which could easily develop a restaurant brand for the entire group.