" The shock to our industry is unprecedented and unprecedentedly violent. "Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, cannot fail to note the consequences of the pandemic on tourism in general, and on the tourism industry in particular. its hotel group in particular. For the first half of the year, revenue per room (RevPAR) was down overall by 59.3 1TP3Q, while Group sales fell by 52.4 1TP3Q to 917 million euros.
As the world's governments closed their borders and imposed containment measures, hotel activity continued to fall. The months of April and May were impacted firstly in Asia-Pacific - with RevPAR down 77.4% in the second quarter - and then in the other regions of the world. As a result, revenue per room in Europe fell by more than 90 1TP3Q (-90.6%) at this time of year.
For Over the first half as a whole, RevPAR in France fell by 60.4 1TP3Q. The majority of the hotel group's hotels were still closed in June. Paris and the Paris region (-62.2 %) suffered more than the provinces (-58.9 %).
No country in Europe has been spared, including Spain (-68.7 %), the United Kingdom (-64.5 %) and Germany, despite earlier decontamination measures (-58.3 %).
On a continental level, the Africa & Middle East region saw RevPAR fall by -55.6 1TP3Q, and Asia-Pacific by -54.7 1TP3Q. This was despite a gradual recovery in China in the second half of the year. As for the regions where the pandemic is still at its height, they too were heavily impacted in the first half. This was the case in North, Central America and the Caribbean (-64.3 1Q3T).
The acceleration of the Covid-19 pandemic in South America also had a major impact on the region's RevPAR, which fell by 52.4 1TP3Q in the first half.
200 million in savings planned
While 81 % of the group's hotels, i.e. more than 4,000 establishments worldwide, have resumed operations, the hotel group is reorganising to cope with the impact of the health crisis on leisure and business travel. In an interview with the daily Les EchosSébastien Bazin refers to "a structural fall of around 10 %" in business travel.
Faced with this sustained downturn in business, Accor will be implementing a recurring savings plan worth €200 million. The simplification of operational structures across the various regions is expected to result in the departure of around a thousand employees.
" The peak of the crisis is undoubtedly behind us, but the recovery will be gradual and gradual.. After the emergency, we now need to finalise the transformation of our asset-light business model into a fully asset-light Group. Beyond Covid-19, this is essential. Accor must become simpler, lighter, more agile and even closer to the ground, "added Stéphane Bazin to the business daily.
Beyond these difficulties, the Group continued to expand, opening 86 hotels and 12,000 rooms in the first half of the year. At the end of June 2020, the Group will have a portfolio of 5,099 hotels and a pipeline of 1,197 hotels, at 75% in emerging markets. Les Echos There is even talk of future developments for the budget brand Ibis Budget in the UK, with the takeover of hotels from the Travelodge chain, which is currently in great difficulty.
