Which hotel brands are the most highly regarded by the French? Analysis by YouGov BrandIndex, a continuous brand health tracking tool, shows real differences in perception depending on whether travellers are on business or leisure. This is true even though Accor group brands monopolise the top three places in this ranking for both categories of traveller combined.
Thus, amongst French people planning to travel in the next 12 months, ibis ranks first with 22.0 % of consideration, ahead of Mercure (19.4 %) and Novotel (18.1 %). This brand owes its position to its appeal to business travellers. Whilst 16.1 % of leisure travellers are attracted to Novotel hotels, this figure rises to 26.9 % amongst business travellers. This represents a difference of +10.8 points. The gap is even wider for Hilton hotels – +11.1 points – with 21.3 % of consideration amongst business travellers compared with 10.2 % amongst leisure travellers.
One brand escapes this wide gap: the Ibis family of brands. While business travellers are certainly more numerous to consider a stay at an Ibis or Ibis Styles hotel for an upcoming trip, the difference with leisure customers is limited to around 3 points. Conversely, Sofitel is also more heavily considered by business travellers, with a gap of +9.2 points, whilst Best Western (+7.0 points), B&B HOTELS (+5.2 points) and Kyriad (+4.7 points) also show notable differences.
A greater presence of all these brands in urban destinations, an offering better suited to business stays, travellers with a better understanding of the diversity of the hotel landscape, the influence of their company's travel policies: many factors undoubtedly play a part in these differing perceptions between leisure tourists and business travellers.
Beyond these differences, the YouGov BrandIndex analysis also highlights underlying trends and dynamics. Mercure and B&B HOTELS stand out with the largest year-on-year increases in Consideration, up 1.2 points each. Regarding Value for Money, ibis takes the lead with a net score of 21.7, ahead of ibis Budget at 19.2, with B&B HOTELS following at 17.7. Finally, the ranking differs for Perceived Quality, with Mercure posting the highest score at 33.8, ahead of Hilton at 33.1 and Novotel at 30.3.
