As part of the reorganisation of the brands within the Accor group, you are relaunching the Pullman brand. What is the concept behind this chain?
Eric Lepleux: Pullman is an innovative, top-of-the-range approach to hotels, aimed at travellers, especially business travellers, who are looking for connectivity and conviviality, far from the Anglo-Saxon tradition of more impersonal hotels. This involves the creation of new functions: the wellcomer, event managers who will be the single point of contact for meeting organisers, or the IT manager, who will respond to requests for technological solutions. It will also involve the creation of venues such as our connectivity lounges, developed in partnership with Microsoft, and the launch of 'table d'hôtes' in restaurants to facilitate exchanges between customers.
You plan to have 300 Pullman hotels by 2015. How will this expansion take place?
E. P. : Pullman is a brand with an ambitious international development plan. The vast majority of the 300 establishments planned between now and 2015 will be new hotels, even though we are initially building on a number of existing hotels, in particular former Sofitels, which fit in well with Pullman's positioning.
The Luxury Hotels name is now attached to the Sofitel brand. Does this reflect a repositioning?
E. P. : This is clearly a move upmarket for Sofitel, as the brand aims to position itself at the very top of the international luxury hotel market. With the name Sofitel Luxury Hotels and the slogan "Life is magnificent", we aim to become a new global benchmark for luxury hotels by 2010. We have redefined our entire range of services and catering with this in mind.
Sofitel's move upmarket is accompanied by the creation of two brands: Sofitel Legend and So by Sofitel. What is the concept behind So?
E. P. : We want to propel the Sofitel universe into very contemporary, boutique-style hotels. It's an interpretation of the French hotel industry, combining design with pleasure and aimed at a very trendy clientele. The So by Sofitel hotels will be located in prominent areas of trendy capitals such as Paris, Milan, London and New York. The first So by Sofitel hotel will open in Paris in 2009, replacing the Sofitel Arc de Triomphe. It will be followed by So Berlin.
Which brands will be the most prominent in meeting the needs of the hotel industry in emerging countries?
E. P. : Historically, these are markets which, paradoxically, have seen the arrival of chain hotels at the top end of the market. We will of course remain active in this segment, which is essentially geared towards foreign customers. The big development now is in domestic markets, and Accor is fully equipped to respond with its portfolio of economy and low-cost brands. I'm thinking in particular of the Formule 1 brand and the Ibis brand, which is set to expand in India and especially China, with more than 100 hotels scheduled to open between now and 2010.
Bio express
Eric Lepleux, 42, is a graduate of the Institut Commercial de Nancy and holds an MBA from Indiana University.
1991 Thomson Multimedia. Export zone manager, product manager, group manager for the Asia-Pacific zone.
1996 Singapore Airlines. Vice President, Innovation, Brand and Product Management.
2000 Singapore Airlines. Managing Director France, then for Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe.
2006 Accor. Managing Director, Hotel Marketing.
