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The
world's fourth-largest hotel group, which is undergoing a
reorganization initiated by Chief Executive Sebastien Bazin, is
also changing its name to "AccorHotels", in line with its
website, as part of the strategy.
"The transformation of our distribution platform into an open
market place is a major step for the group and reflects a new
approach," Bazin said in a statement.
Accor, which competes with InterContinental, Marriott and
Starwood, said the investment comes on top of the 225 million
euros it has announced it would spend to beef up its digital
business between 2014 and 2018.
Accor has 3,700 hotels worldwide ranging from the luxury Sofitel
to the budget Ibis brands. Its goal is to triple its online
offering to 10,000 hotels by 2018 via this new service to be
launched in July.
Europe's largest hotel group faces challenges ranging from
rising competition from online travel agents (OTAs), who are
hitting the margins of traditional hoteliers and earning
commission fees that can reach 20 percent of the cost of a room,
to the growing popularity of online home-sharing site Airbnb.
Accor makes a third of it sales online, evenly split between
bookings made via its own website and bookings made via OTAs.
Accor last year bought French start-up Wipolo, a travel software
company that offers mobile and web itinerary management
services.
In April, it bought FASTBOOKING, a digital services provider for
the hotel industry, whose expertise Accor will use to offer
online booking services to selected independent hoteliers.
Accor will charge a commission that Vivek Badrinah, deputy CEO
in charge of digital, told Reuters would be below that charged
by rival OTAs.
Bazin, a private equity specialist who took over in August 2013,
has split Accor into two divisions, HotelServices and
HotelInvest, to separate its hotel services business from its
property activities to boost profitability.
The restructuring has started to pay off, with Accor posting a
record profit last year.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon)
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