• AccorHotels.com opened to independent hoteliers
  • A rapid, three-fold increase in the hotel offer on AccorHotels.com 
  • Creation of a BtoB digital services activity 
  • Launch of the new version of single mobile app AccorHotels

AccorHotels ramps up its digital drive by transforming its AccorHotels.com distribution platform into a marketplace open to a selection of independent hotels. This service will gradually become available to hoteliers in the first target markets starting at the end of June 2015, and guests will be able to access it from July 2015. In time, the objective is to offer more than 10,000 hotels in 300 key cities worldwide, or a three-fold increase in the number of hotels on AccorHotels.com. This initiative is part of the Group's transformation which kicked off in 2013.

The independent hotels distributed on the AccorHotels.com platform alongside the Group's brand hotels will be selected on the basis of hotel criteria with guest reviews taken into account. AccorHotels.com is already the leading online hotel booking platform in several markets, including France, Brazil, Australia and Germany. It will therefore provide independent hoteliers with a powerful alternative and qualitative distribution channel that meets their specific needs. This new offer guarantees them transparent display rules, access to their customer data and competitive commission rates.

This initiative will supplement the services developed by Fastbooking, a company taken over by the Group last April, within a new BtoB digital services activity. AccorHotels now offers a wider range of digital and technical solutions, to all its partners, as well as more support, guaranteeing them a better visibility as well as an increase in their direct web booking volumes.

Over the first two years of its roll-out, this initiative will represent an additional investment worth about 10% of the cost of the digital plan unveiled in October 2014. It will have an accretive effect from the third year.

Sébastien Bazin, AccorHotels Chairman and CEO, declared "Transforming our distribution platform into an open marketplace is a major initiative for the Group and the result of a new approach to our profession and business model. AccorHotels is placing its powerful digital tools at the service of independent hoteliers and increasing the choice available to its customers by adding more hotels and more destinations. We are becoming a trustworthy, selective and transparent third party and we are once again amplifying the in-depth transformation undertaken within the Group since 2013. These initiatives and the launch of the new AccorHotels application are designed to enrich the content of our digital ecosystem and reinforce our position as a hospitality industry pioneer and trailblazer."

Vivek Badrinath, Deputy Chief Executive Officer Marketing, Digital, Distribution and Information Systems added "With our digital plan, which is in the midst of its roll-out, the take over of Fastbooking, which allows us to deploy a range of cutting-edge services for hoteliers, and now the opening of a marketplace, AccorHotels is taking the initiative to ensure that the combination of digital experience and hotelier know-how is increasingly effective."

Today, the Group is also launching the new version of its mobile application AccorHotels. All the brand applications are now united in this single app which features all the Group's hotels and as of this summer will also include all the independent establishments offered on the booking platform. The AccorHotels app aims at being one of mobile device users' top three travel apps and offers an enriched experience at every stage of the customer journey, with for example:

  • Pre-stay and to assist trip preparation: storage of information like flights, train tickets, an e-check-in / fast check-out Welcome by Le Club Accorhotels service and a recap of current bookings.
  • During stay: access to the digital press, city guides (available from early July), and other services which will be gradually introduced, notably taxi booking and room service ordering.
  • Post-stay: loyalty program management.

Updates every three weeks will ensure that the AccorHotels app is constantly improved and enriched at a sustained pace.

About Accor, a world-leading hospitality group

Accor is a world leading hospitality group consisting of more than 5,300 properties and 10,000 food and beverage venues throughout 110 countries. The group has one of the industry's most diverse and fully-integrated hospitality ecosystems encompassing more than 40 luxury, premium, midscale and economy hotel brands, entertainment and nightlife venues, restaurants and bars, branded private residences, shared accommodation properties, concierge services, co-working spaces and more. Accor's unmatched position in lifestyle hospitality – one of the fastest growing categories in the industry – is led by Ennismore, a joint venture, which Accor holds a majority shareholding. Ennismore is a creative hospitality company with a global collective of entrepreneurial and founder-built brands with purpose at their heart. Accor boasts an unrivalled portfolio of distinctive brands and more than 260,000 team members worldwide. Members benefit from the company's comprehensive loyalty program – ALL - Accor Live Limitless – a daily lifestyle companion that provides access to a wide variety of rewards, services and experiences. Through its Planet 21 – Acting Here, Accor Solidarity, RiiSE and ALL Heartist Fund initiatives, the Group is focused on driving positive action through business ethics, responsible tourism, environmental sustainability, community engagement, diversity and inclusivity. Founded in 1967, Accor SA is headquartered in France and publicly listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and on the OTC Market (Ticker: ACCYY) in the United States. For more information visit group.accor.com, or follow Accor on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.