Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #32

INNOVATIONS & TECHNOLOGIES
Yves
Lacheret
Senior Vice President Entrepreneurship
Advocacy, AccorHotels
THE FUTURE IS OUT OF THE BOX
When disruptive technologies are much more than constructive chaos…
In March 2014, AccorHotels appointed a Senior Vice President - Entrepreneurship
Advocacy in the shape of Yves Lacheret – former CEO of Novotel France (among
other senior roles). We asked him to explain his new job…
OUR
OBSESSION
IS THE END
CUSTOMER,
TRYING TO
UNDERSTAND
HOW THEY
BEHAVE NOW
AND HOW THEY
WILL BEHAVE IN
5 OR 10 YEARS.
Hoteliers and tourism market in general are
facing two concurrent phenomena. Firstly
the customer profile has changed and is still
changing. And secondly, the industry has
experienced a structural shift due to changes
in technology (often supported by start-ups).
Success or failure will depend on the ability
of the hotelier to adapt to this new situation.
AccorHotels’ strategy is particularly visionary
with regard to these themes.
We are looking for ideas at a number of
trade shows: not necessarily those related to
hospitality, but also major trade and consumer
events in other industries, where we can
consider a much broader range of ecosystems.
Our obsession is the end customer, trying to
understand how they behave now and how
they will behave in 5 or 10 years.
How is the Group adapting? What other
disruptive technologies and ideas are you
looking at?
The approach consisted in concretely helping
start-ups (so they can take off and become
profitable) and establishing a win-win
relationship, taking advantage of the strengths
and expertise of both.
AccorHotels already has a great deal of
experience in the field through the Innovation
Factory and the hackathons organised on
this occasion. A hackathon allows us to work
intensively with a group of students alongside
employees of the Group during 36 hours on a
given topic. In some cases, the Group entrusted
them with several projects. One such example
is TRI-O to which AccorHotels has given the
waste management of several of its hotels
as well as our corporate headquarters. Then
there’s Tripndrive, which offers an original
sharing economy concept, allowing customers
who leave their cars in the parking lot of the
hotel to make a profit during their absence by
renting them out.
In summary, what are the main benefits
expected by AccorHotels from these
initiatives?
These initiatives are part of the 2020/2025
vision of AccorHotels. They allow us to work
for the future of the group by creating a new
dynamic. They’re sources of new revenue
streams, and of course, allow us to gain a pole
position in digital expertise.