What are Accor's strengths and weaknesses in the US market?
Cédric Gobilliard - What I explain to American travel buyers is that with Accor, of course they are choosing a product, a brand, but above all the leader in the world, outside the United States. Above all, Americans expect security, certainty about the quality and consistency of the product. It's the guarantee of standards that prevent unpleasant surprises, which is reassuring when you're travelling abroad. Of course, we suffer from a lack of brand awareness in the United States, where our network is not dense enough to really make an impression on business travellers, who are mainly familiar with North American chains. Nearly 20% of the global corporate market is accounted for by these American customers: it's a big market, and we're making progress - +10% since 1 January.er January - even if there was inevitably room for improvement.
How do you intend to win market share with American business travellers?
Cédric Gobilliard - Our loyalty programme is a real success with American business travellers. In the United States, the buyer is very sensitive to the loyalty programme. They have no problem with it, quite the contrary. We've already reworked the image of the programme about six months ago, making it easier to understand, and we'll be improving the offer at the end of the year to make it more generous and more attractive. It will also be possible to use points directly online to make reservations. We are also going to develop our network of partnerships, to use the points on a wider scale, and we will enhance the advantages offered to passengers, with new services. We're going to go even further in this direction. It's only normal after four years of existence, especially as this is an extraordinary strength for us.
What role does the Meetings & Events market play in this strategy?
Cédric Gobilliard - This is essential. Pullman has clearly positioned itself as
the MICE brand, alongside Novotel and its specific offering, and we are completely relaunching the brand in Europe, in particular with the
renovation of Pullman hotels in Paris. We're going to have a great product, both for the Meetings & Events market and for business travel. It's something we're building on in the United States, even though we don't have a Pullman there. We're also developing new functions for this 'Meetings & Events' offer, and in December we're going to launch the possibility for groups of up to 30 people to book online, with a quote and availability available online. This new tool is going to be a revolution. We're developing functions, particularly on the Internet, to simplify the booking process and availability information, and we're working to professionalise our sales teams so that we can respond more effectively to specific customer requests, particularly in terms of reporting.
