Pullman, the Accor group’s new chain of upscale non-standardized hotels, is today opening 12 hotels around the world: in France in Paris, Marseilles and Toulouse (the Pullman Paris Rive Gauche, Pullman Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Pullman Paris La Défense, Pullman Versailles Château, Pullman Marseilles Palm Beach, Pullman Marseilles Provence, Pullman Toulouse Airport); in Germany in Cologne and Dortmund (Pullman Cologne, Pullman Dortmund); in Belgium in Brussels (Pullman Brussels Airport); in Thailand in Bangkok (Pullman Bangkok King Power); and in China in Dongguan (Pullman Dongguan).

300 Pullman hotels by 2015: an ambitious international development plan

As from 2008, the Pullman chain will consist of 50 hotels in 23 countries in Europe, Asia- Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. These hotels will have a total capacity of 13,000 rooms.

Pullman’s expansion will focus on international business and leisure destinations. Some 55% of the Pullman chain will be in fast-growing countries (in the Middle East, Africa, South America, Asia and Eastern Europe) and 45% in mature countries in Western Europe, North America and the Pacific.

In the medium to longer term, Accor’s ambition is to develop a worldwide chain of 300 hotels by 2015 at a rate of 25 new hotels a year.

By combining an innovative and creative offer with the prestigious Pullman brand, Accor intends to impose itself on the international upscale hotel market.

The upscale segment and business travelers: the synergy from two sectors with high growth potential

The creation of the Pullman chain is a response to two fundamental trends in the hotel market:

  • The significant and still growing importance of the upscale hotel segment;
  • The increased presence of chains in this market segment because of their expertise in terms of management, marketing, purchasing and even retailing;
  • The predominance of the business clientele in this market.

The upscale segment of the hotel market currently accounts for more than 40% of the hotel market and represents 1 million rooms with revenues of 45 billion euros (excluding North America). It is the segment of the hotel market that is the fastest growing with annual growth of 5%. In addition, business travelers represent a high value-added target for hotels, accounting already for 55% of the market in terms of number of room-nights and 70% of total revenues.

Conviviality – Calm – Connectivity: Pullman is reinventing the business stay

Located in the heart of large regional and international cities and close to major airports, Pullman hotels will stand out because their innovative approach towards providing hotels dedicated to business travelers and by their offer of upscale and creative services. The new chain’s main ambition is to provide an offer that creates a balance between conviviality, calm and connectivity for men and women traveling on business and whose expectations are not entirely met by the market’s current offer.

  • Defining themselves as places that are open, full of life, and sharing, Pullman hotels are aiming at conviviality and social intimacy. Their open spaces, designed to promote these features (a warm and welcoming lobby, table d’hôtes, or communal dining, that encourage social exchanges), reflect this desire to make a stay at a Pullman hotel a memorable event.
  • Pullman hotels are also places of tranquility and calm for a clientele that is constantly on call and under pressure. Whether guests seek rest in the comfort and privacy of their rooms or a moment to unwind and relax, every guest knows that a Pullman hotel is the perfect place to meet all his or her requirements.
  • Communication and connectivity facilitated and speeded up thanks to the latest equipment (notably through a partnership with Microsoft). Better than an office, Pullman customers have at their disposal a genuine working space, designed with simplicity and attention to ergonomics. Pullman guarantees that its guests will be permanently able to contact their work colleagues but also their families and friends.

The prestige of a brand at the service of a bold offer

An historic brand with strong evocative powers, Pullman has all the legitimacy to respond to the requirements of a clientele that seeks an environment combining comfort, pleasure and modernity.

Pullman recalls the name of Georges Mortimer Pullman who, in 1864, designed the first Pullman sleeping cars that were based on a technology unrivalled in the 19th century and that enabled travelers to reach distant destinations in ease and comfort, while at the same time forming genuine sociable links with their fellow passengers.

The Pullman brand, above all, recalls the association of travel, pleasure and comfort, which tallies exactly with this new hotel offer. Like other great brands that have managed to evolve and renew themselves, Accor is giving a new lease of life to the Pullman name by concentrating on its founding, historic values in order to respond better to the requirements of today’s public, starting with business travelers.

With Pullman, Accor completes its portfolio of brands

By relaunching Pullman, Accor plans to consolidate its position in the upscale hotel market by targeting business travelers more accurately. The Pullman chain strengthens the coherence of the group’s portfolio of brands and makes its offer clearer and easier to understand. While Sofitel moves up-market to position itself in the upper upscale and luxury segments, Pullman provides a new and original offer of services that meets the criteria of excellence of upscale hotelery.

Pullman is the upscale, non-standardised hotel brand of Accor. It was designed with the requirements of business women and men in mind. Located in the main regional and international cities, Pullman hotels provide an extensive range of tailored services, access to groundbreaking technologies and the "Co-Meeting" offer, a new approach to organizing meetings, seminars and high-end incentives. At Pullman hotels, business travelers can choose between being independent or relying on the staff available round the clock. Starting 2009, the Pullman network will count on 59 hotels in 23 countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. By 2015, we expect over 300 establishments around the world.

Accor, the European leader and a major global group in hotels, the global leader in services to corporate clients and public institutions, operates in nearly 100 countries with 170,000 employees. It offers to its clients over 40 years of expertise in its two core businesses:

  • Hotels, with the Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, All Seasons, Etap Hotel, Formule 1 and Motel 6 brands, representing more than 4,000 hotels and nearly 500,000 rooms in 90 countries, as well as strategically related activities, such as Lenôtre.
  • Services, with 23 million people in nearly 40 countries benefiting from Accor Services products in human resources, marketing services and expense management.

Jérôme Aubé
+33 (0)1 61 61 75 07
Accor

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