Interview with : Daniel Karbownik, Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Accor

How have your West African hotels coped with the Covid 19 crisis?

Daniel Karbownik - From April 2020, we were initially impacted because the European, American and Asian issuing markets were closing. We had a lot ofclosed hotelsthere was absolutely more traffic. But from July onwards, we started to have a small recovery with a European customer base, a business customersa number of seminarsand above all an African clientele from neighbouring countries. Occupancy rates ranged from 35 to 50 %, depending on the country. Then at the beginning of January, we had this second wave, which was stronger in Africa. With the acceleration of cases, we felt a real halt in bookings and sales. The drastic measures taken in Europe did not help us. It's a complicated time, even if we're suffering less than European or American hotels.s. Compared with the reference year 2019, we were at -60 %, or even -65 % in 2020 and I would say that the figures for early 2021 put us at around -45%, -50 %.

Do you see a recovery on the horizon?

Daniel Karbownik - We're starting to feel a slight, small recovery for forecasts from spring onwards, then June, September, October. I think it's the impact of vaccination campaigns first and foremost which have begun in Africa, for example in Morocco, which is a major issuing country for us in West Africa. Over the last four months of 2020, we have seen a faster recovery than on other continents. I think this is due to the fact that business is still being done in West Africa. more by direct human contact than by Teams or Zoom. The first market to pick up is the African outbound market, i.e. travel between countries on the continent. We're starting to see new bookings for September, October and November from France and Europe.

Do your customers have any new requests?

Daniel Karbownik - We receive quite specific requests about the possibility of organising joint meetings. At Accor, we have All Connect and it is possible toorganise meetings with a face-to-face component and a Teams or Zoom component on a large screen in specially adapted rooms. As for the second request, it obviously concerns the protection measures protection of our customers and employees with the label All Safe which is unique to Accor. All our hotels have been certified by Veritas in terms of following these instructions, all these hygiene and protection standards that we have put in place: compulsory masks, disinfection, etc. This is an important issue for our customers. This is an important issue for our customers and for us. we are clearly being asked for certification. Finally, there are more requests for logistical details: a businessman who has one meeting after another is going to ask us fororganise your 72 h PCR test before you leave and rather than queuing up at a medical centre, they will ask us if we know of a service that will come to the hotel to carry out the test. We have developed solutions along these lines in all our hotels, as well as providing kits with masks, sterilising lotion, etc. on a practical level.

Against this backdrop, what plans does Accor have to develop its brands in West Africa?

Daniel Karbownik - Previously, in Africa, most developers or hotel operators confined themselves to the economic brands. Today we realise that there are business customers looking for comfortThere is an African clientele who are also used to travelling and staying in mid-range, top-of-the-range and even luxury hotels. At the moment, we're not planning to develop the Raffles type of hotel in West Africa, but that will certainly happen in the future, because that's the logical thing to do. One day, there will be a more demanding clientele, but for the moment, there are no plans. In the countries where we operate, it's important to understand the market segments and first of all to know who the travellers are who come to these countries and what their expectations are. local customers. Because today, hotels are no longer just places to eat and sleep. We expect to have a place to live.

This hotel-living space trend is developing in Africa. What do you think of the development of certain South African hotels that include coworking spaces?

Daniel Karbownik - It's a subject we're looking at. In the West and Central Africa region that I manage, the coworking is not yet well developed but we're very interested because it's a trend that's going to happen. Right next to the Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan, we're thinking about a space that we could take over under our brand. Wojo which specialises in co-working, and we're thinking along the same lines in Dakar at the moment.

You have just taken over the management of the Sofitel Hotel in Abidjan, the famous Hôtel Ivoire. What are your plans for the future?

Daniel Karbownik - It's an exceptional site, which the Ivorians call "the Ivory Village". I think that one thing that hasn't yet been developed, and this is one of my projects, is to integrate a genuine weekend leisure offer for customers from Côte d'Ivoire and neighbouring countries. I can also imagine develop incentive seminar offers including a leisure section for companies. Finally, l'Ivoire should become Abidjan's cultural crossroads, where Ivorian, African and international talent can come together for musical or literary "Escales", and live artistic demonstrations by painters, sculptors, photographers, designers, etc. As I said before... Definitely a Place to Live!

Interview by L.S.