INNOVATIONS &
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.
Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #32 2016 Winter Edition 39 LEVERAGING CHANGE Don’t just adapt to it; use it to your advantage Only one thing is sure: everything changes. Adapting to change is evident if one wants to stay in the game, but leveraging change to ones advantage – using disruptive technologies – will be the secret to future success. Here are just a few examples… MARKETING TO THE HYPER-CONNECTED TRAVELLER The increased use of social media has created both challenges and opportunities for hoteliers, as they determine how to participate and respond to the ever-growing buzz online. Quantifying and incorporating insights from various social media sources can have a measurable impact on a hotel’s performance and on its ability to captivate this hyper-connected traveller. IS “COLLABORATIVE” A DIRTY WORD? Not if you know how to leverage it right. An example is the expanded partnership between Hilton Worldwide and Uber to further bring together their respective mobile apps. In a first for the hospitality © iStockPhoto industry, Hilton HHonors members can now order an Uber straight from the HHonors app, and Uber riders can now view their hotel stay information and check-in, all accessed via the Uber app en route to their hotel. “The success of our Uber partnership is rooted in a shared passion for finding new ways to take friction out of travel,» said Rich DiStefano, senior director of Mobile Products at Hilton Worldwide. «By further integrating our mobile apps, we’re simplifying the steps it takes for our Hilton HHonors members to obtain the quick information they seek, ultimately providing them with a better experience.” WHEN DOUBLE-BOOKING MAKES SENSE The French start-up – Dayuse.fr – recently was awarded the “start-up of the year” prize by the daily “Les Echos” newspaper. Entrepreneur David Lébée came up with the concept in 2010, and with 4,000 Euros capital created a platform for hotels to sell rooms for day use for a set number of hours. The clientele has skyrocketed, and consists of a broad section of users, including couples, families, business people and travellers in transit. With €10m turnover in 2015 and an injection of an extra €15m in capital the same year, the company is now adding an extra five to ten employees per month. It’s just another case of “leveraging the possibilities of communication technologies” – growing the pie for the entire hotel industry.
