You've just opened a hotel in Lille, in one of the city's flagship developments, "31", rue de Béthune. What are the strengths of this new establishment?
Solenne Devys - This is a very special project, as it is part of the transformation of the former Galeries Lafayette, which is being carried out by Vinci Immobilier and Redevco on the retail side. On this 10,000 m2 site, you'll find major retailers such as Decathlon and Citadium, a 120-room Okko hotel with a sleek, contemporary design, a Wojo coworking space, as well as a food court operated by Grand Scène with around fifteen stalls, a climbing gym and a gym club. It's really the idea of creating a destination right in the city centre, in a high-traffic area. This mix of uses is very interesting, particularly for seminars. We can sell companies accommodation at Okko, a study day at Wojo, a meal at the Ghent Scène food court and, why not, a building activity at the climbing gym. We really enjoy working like this.
With regard to your expansion, could the opening of new hotels be slowed down by the crisis?
S. D. - Despite the current difficulties in the sector, the hotel industry appears to be a safe haven for investors in the face of the panic in the office sector. As a result, we are in regular demand. Among our development targets, we'd like to be in Marseille and Bordeaux, have a second hotel in Lyon, and others in the Paris region. We're also taking a close look at secondary townsOur hotels have proved to be the most resilient during the crisis. Bayonne and Toulon. These are not the cities that first attract hoteliers, but in these areas that are both business and leisure, there is a demand for quality hotels. Finally, we're making no secret of our ambition to set up in Europe's major cities.
Already, after Lille, another Okko is expected in Nice at the beginning of the summer, before the brand appears in 2022 in the La Défense business district in Paris. Can you tell us about the main features of this hotel in Nice?
S. D. - Its location is very attractive for business travellers, as the hotel is situated in the heart of the city. less than ten minutes' walk from airport terminal 2 while being linked to the city centre by tram. It's a gamble on the future of the Arenas districtThis is a fast-growing business area. Given this business location, the hotel naturally offers three meeting rooms housed within our Club (editor's note: the living space, common to all the hotels in the chain, where you can relax, work, drink or snack, all enhanced by a breakfast service and an aperitivo offered in the early evening). On the top floor, this Club offers a beautiful view of the mountains, and given the hotel's environment, also houses a bar. It was important to create a special atmosphere for convivial moments around gastronomy and oenology, because a customer arriving late will not always have the opportunity to go into the city centre.
The mainstay of your offer, the aperitivo offered from 6.30 to 8pm, originally served as a buffet, no doubt had to evolve with the introduction of the barrier gestures?
S. D. - Covid has obviously pushed for the introduction of table service, but that's not the only reason for this development. Insofar as aperitivo is something we offer our customers - and we're the only ones to do so - it's something we're very proud of, we want this to be a high quality, festive occasion. But the perception of buffet service is less qualitative. Hence this table service, which requires new skills from our hoteliers. This means knowing how to prepare and dress the plates, and offering a choice of wines and spirits to accompany these aperitif plates. The relationship with the customer is changing, and this is a new stage in our development from that point of view.
Our target customers, whether business travellers during the week or short-stay weekenders, wanted to be able to spend more time in our Clubs with a real snack offer.
You've just talked about the changes to the aperitivo. You also mentioned the presence of a bar in Nice, something new for Okko. How has the pandemic prompted you to change your offer?
S. D. - The crisis led us to ask ourselves a number of questions, which accelerated certain changes, particularly in the F&B part of our concept (editor's note: F&B stands for Food & Beverage). Our target clientele, whether business travellers during the week or short-stay weekenders, were expressing a strong desire to be more involved in the F&B concept. the desire to spend more time with our Clubs around a real snack offer. So, during the first lockdown, we worked on this and created a fairly simple menu, with a maximum of six dishes, with things that are a bit bistro, a bit twisted, for example croque-monsieur or burrata with an excellent pesto. Of course, it's not Michelin-starred cuisine, but the dishes are simple and fun. Everything is made fresh on the premises.
So this demand came from your customers?
S. D. - The Okko concept has always been based on generosity, with a large number of services offered. We're continuing to do this, but we realised from our customers' feedback that they wanted more than just that, they wanted complementary services. Even if they have to pay for them. Hence this catering offer, which also means that customers don't have to go out again for dinner, leaving them free to enjoy our Club all evening. New features include we'll be opening a rooftop bar in Toulon in July, you'll find a bar in Nice, while our future hotel at La Défense will have a real restaurant. It's a huge step for our company to be fully involved in the restaurant and bar business. And we don't rule out offering other types of services or products in the future. We're thinking of working on packages combining a premium room, a bottle of wine in the room and a restaurant service.
Because your range of rooms, which until now have all been identical, will also be changing?
S. D. - Our thinking on accommodation is based on the same observation. While we felt it was very important that all our customers should have access to the same offer, they say they are prepared to pay more for a room with a view, for example. So we've come up with a solution, hotel by hotel, we have identified premium roomsWe'll also be upgrading the range of facilities on offer for these rooms. At the same time, we will be upgrading the range of facilities on offer by adding small complements to the existing range for these rooms. This will differentiate them from standard rooms. We are in the process of finalising this product offering.
Let's go back to Okko's F&B offer, with aperitivo on the one hand, and a bar on the other, which is increasingly common. Aren't you afraid that these two offers will overlap?
S. D. - On the contrary, it's something very complementary. Already, with a bar, we are pleasing our guests, who have told us that they would like to see more entertainment in our establishments. What's more, it allows them to invite their local contacts, colleagues. We also wanted to open up a little more to outside customers, without aiming to become the best bar in the area. We were already offering passes giving access to our Clubs, because they lend themselves very well to meetings of two or three people, or job interviews. Now we've decided to step it up a notch so that we can provide a personalised response to the requests we receive. For example, our corporate customers who want to be able to organise an afterwork format to round off a day of study with a convivial moment.
Your Clubs also lend themselves to mobile working. With the trend towards teleworking and coworking strengthened by the pandemic, are you going to go further in this direction like many hoteliers?
S. D. - We've always had customers passing through who have identified our hotels as places to come and work between two trains or two planes. But I don't see us becoming a hub for start-ups in the future! Especially as some players are already doing that very well. If our clubs are already frequented more during the day by travellers in transit or professionals I think that's already a big step forward. After that, we're thinking about packages giving access to the club and the gym for teleworking professionals who would like to spend one day a week in a nice setting, combining it with their sports session.
In your opinion, are all the trends that emerged during the crisis here to stay?
S. D. - Let's have the humility to say that we don't yet know which way things are going to turn. At the end of the day, nobody knows how we will travel and work in the future. There will undoubtedly be disparities depending on the size of the company. As we have seen, multinationals have not reacted to the crisis in the same way as French SMEs or start-ups. At Okko, we're leaving ourselves plenty of room to explore, to continue to keep an eye on societal trends and to come up with the right solutions when we have a bit more conviction.
As far as business is concerned, are you seeing any signs of an upturn in business customers?
S. D. - We saw a huge difference between the Paris and Côte d'Azur markets on the one hand, and the rest of France on the other. In the regions, the corporate clientele of SMEs has continued to shift. This is extremely reassuring for a group like ours, which is fairly business-focused and based in smaller towns. Where we have concerns is with key account customersThe instructions to allow people to travel again have not yet been given, or only minimally. Will there be a massive resumption in September? Of course we hope so. But will it actually happen? We'll have to wait and see. On the other hand, we are seeing an explosion in demand for meetings and team building among these key accounts.
So are physical meetings still popular?
S. D. - Many companies and managers can now commit to meetings of more than six peopleEither before the summer or at the start of the school year. There's definitely something to be said for this window of opportunity. Since the announcement of the various stages of deconfinement, we've had a huge number of requests in this area. There's a real desire to get together as a team, to take the time to share a moment of physical conviviality. The working atmosphere has been put to the test and we feel a strong need to bring the teams together in a friendly setting.
However, international travel still seems limited. What does this mean for the Okko Group?
S. D. - It's a real gap for us. We're quite concerned about the return of the international clientele, which is essential in areas like Paris and the Côte d'Azur. This return, even if only for European travellers, does not seem to be happening today. and may not happen tomorrow either. Will the vaccine passport, the reopening of borders and the relaxation of instructions allow this return? That's a big question, just as much as the resumption of congresses.
How do you feel about this major component of the MICE business in France?
S. D. - Even before covid, there was a feeling that the congress model was already running out of steam, with increasingly negative feedback from participants and organisers alike. Organisers are saying that it's hard to make a living and keep their events busy, and that it's hard to make a living and keep their events busy. participants feel that it costs them a lot of time and money for contacts that are not always highly qualified in the end. The tourism sector as a whole needs to reflect on how to make trade fairs "great again" and make cities more attractive. When hoteliers, organisers, airlines and rail companies, and sometimes even restaurateurs, raise their prices year after year, it's clear that the bill gets bigger for exhibitors and visitors alike. This raises questions for the destination, at a time when competition between convention cities is now Europe-wide.
