With a growing number of hotels on the French market, the Marriott group did not choose to play at home at the press conference held on 22 November. The Palais de Tokyo provided an original setting for an update on the group's development in France. This is a strategic area for the American giant, defined as one of the three priority markets in Europe, and one in which Marriott is stepping up its efforts to assert its proximity to French customers. These include the launch of Mariott Paris Market Sales in October 2011 under the leadership of Arnaud Boivent, and the introduction of a website entirely accessible in the language of Molière. Like Arnaud Boivent, the Group's representatives were quick to point out that the French market is currently undergoing "emulation", which should contribute to the Group's European ambitions of doubling its portfolio in Europe between 2010 and 2015.
Autograph and AC, spearheads in France
"Xavier Grange, Vice President of Development at Marriott International, is targeting Paris and the South of France as priority destinations. The group's expansion in France will also include the opening of a new strategic establishment with a clear business focus: the future AC Porte Maillot hotel, due to open in 2014. The chain, which joined the Marriott fold in 2011, is one of the two main drivers of the group's French development - another representative of the brand will open in Nice by next March - along with Autograph, Marriott's other new gateway to the French market. The brand, which is above all a collection of hotels with their own character, should enable Marriott to strengthen its presence in the town centres of major provincial cities via conversions. The Hermitage Gantois, in Lille, and the Hôtel de Bourgtheroulde in Rouen, are paving the way for a promising dynamic that will underpin Marriott's new growth in France and Europe.
