Accorhotels Middle East opened the Suite Novotel Riyadh Dyar, its fifth operational hotel in Riyadh and 15th to open in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The group has an additional 28 hotels in development across the Kingdom, which puts its total number of properties in Saudi Arabia, in operation and under development, at 43.
“This successful opening underscores the strong opportunity for hospitality in Saudi Arabia, especially in the midscale range which continues to be undersupplied,” says Christophe Landais, chief operating officer of AccorHotels Middle East. “Our second Suite Novotel in Riyadh – following Suite Novotel Riyadh Olaya – also serves to demonstrate our commitment to this important, fast-growing market. In Riyadh, we now have five operational hotels and five more in development. This brings us close to 2,000 rooms in Riyadh alone and more than 12,500 across the Kingdom in total.”
MIDEAST FOCUS
In an interview with TTN, he adds, “We have a total of 110 hotels in the region, with 70 opened and another 40 under development. Our Middle East portfolio covers the full spectrum of brands; from luxury to midscale and economy. We also recently announced our ambition to have 30,000 rooms open by 2018, in response to the dynamic growth we’re seeing take place in the region.
“Dubai continues to be a key market for us, with 20 million visitors expected annually by 2020, broadening Dubai beyond a five-star destination and requiring the development of more three- and four-star accommodations.
“AccorHotels is best placed to meet this demand, being the market leader in the economy and midscale segments. For this reason, our current development pipeline for Dubai is focused on the ibis, ibis Styles and Novotel brands, which will enable us to offer close to 1,600 additional keys in affordable accommodation in Dubai.”
WORKING WITH THE TRADE
In the light of the gargantuan growth, David Henry, vice president of Sales, Marketing and Distribution for AccorHotels in the Middle East, says, “AccorHotels values its longstanding partnership with the travel agency community, which has always been and will continue to be part of the success of our hotels in the Middle East region and elsewhere.
“I believe success is associated with the adequate management of various sources of business: B2C and B2B, electronic and traditional, direct and indirect. At AccorHotels, we have developed special tools to address the needs of tour operators and travel agents; creating specific sales forces, dedicated websites and training programmes, and tailor-made solutions for the largest players in the region as well as the small and midsized operators.
“Our interactive online e-learning tool ‘Learn With Us’ has been used successfully by hundreds of travel agents across the region. The programme is designed to help educate agents about our brands, and through the programme they can also become certified AccorHotels Ambassadors, giving them access to exclusive benefits.”
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS
At the same time, there is no denying that Accor’s driving force is technology as it gears up towards a €225 million ($253.1 million) digital transformation. The hotel group has acquired French start-up Wipolo, a travel software company that offers mobile and web itinerary management services. “Migration to mobile devices is showing no signs of slowing down and this mobile app, which acts as a ‘travel companion,’ will help us to further improve our digital presence,” says Henry. Features of the app include users being able to book flights, hotels and restaurants, as well as share information about their holidays with friends and family.
“To accelerate our digital evolution even further, we announced in April of this year the takeover of another French company, Fastbooking; a digital services provider for the hotel industry. This transaction again reflects our ambition in the digital space and expands our capabilities, as Fastbooking provides daily support to nearly 4,000 hotels worldwide, and will broaden the range of services we offer.” These include hotel website development, distribution channel management solutions, digital marketing campaign management, revenue management optimization tools and competitive intelligence, Henry explains.
A UNIFIED ACCOR APP
Business on mobile is currently the fastest-growing channel for Accor properties in the Middle East.
Henry reveals: “The next step for us is to merge all AccorHotels apps into one ‘Big App’ that will provide a unique and enriched customer experience, including not only hotel booking functionality but also additional services such as travel companion and destination information as well as a booking platform for different services at the hotel. The idea is to make all services available and bookable from the app, including spas, restaurants and a full concierge service.”
The new unified app will be rolled out in stages by October 2015. “In parallel, we continue to digitise our entire offering and invest in our websites, with Novotel.com being the next one to be revamped.”