How do you see business hotel bookings developing in France?
Stéphane de Laforcade - Companies suffer from a total lack of visibility on hotel expenditure, despite it being the second largest budget in business travel. This trend can be explained by the multiplicity of sources of supply, between business travel agencies, self-booking tools, online travel agencies, direct relations with the establishment and "good old habits"... In themselves, these are all good solutions. But the result of this patchwork is a total lack of tangible data, and therefore of control, and ultimately of savings, at a time when pressure is high with the crisis.
What is your response to this situation?
S. d. L. - We draw on an inventory of around 250,000 hotels, including more than 13,000 establishments in France, which is essential when you consider that 75 % of expenditure is domestic. Above all, we centralise payment, and even invoicing if the company so wishes; this offers greater visibility and makes substantial savings on the management of hotel invoices, the cost of which is estimated at between €15 and €50 each.
Who are your customers?
S. d. L. - We mainly target companies with an annual business travel budget of at least €500,000. Our portfolio totals nearly 1,000 companies, and we're proud to have never lost a customer since our creation. Our ambition? To be the market standard solution for the Europe-Middle East-Africa zone. That's why we will soon be opening offices in Brussels, London and Dubai.
How would you describe the past year?
S. d. L. - We have completed a number of very important transactions in recent months, in particular the entry of two new partners in our capital: Entrepreneur Venture and the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a guarantee of seriousness for our customers as well as for our hotel partners. From a financial point of view, we are on track to meet our targets, and we will continue to make strong progress in 2013.
Other players have entered this segment in recent months...
S. d. L. - That's right. And others will surely follow: everyone is tackling the hotel business. As far as we're concerned, we're coming to the end of an imperative but very long process of development and partnerships. Our solution is now integrated with all the partners in the business travel ecosystem. We have links with self-booking tools, expense claim management software, payment methods, etc. And we are in the process of finalising a number of major partnerships with business travel agencies. So there's still a long way to go for the new competitors that are emerging.
Could you branch out into other areas, such as meetings or catering?
S. d. L. - We don't have any plans for catering, but it's more likely that we'll enter the meetings and seminars segment. We're inundated with requests, and we're experimenting with a product that will stand out from the existing offer.
What is your view of the business travel market in general?
S. d. L. - I don't get the impression that people are tightening their budgets indiscriminately. Rather than on the face price and therefore the comfort of the traveller, I generally advise saving on the cost of managing expenses, which offers interesting margin prospects. A solution like HCorpo sells savings more than it sells hotels: it's a credo that's paying off in times of crisis.
