TravTalk India Online Magazine
Almost every segment of travel closed 2023 on a positive note, and the story is no different for Accor. Pratima Badhwar, Head of Commercial, India & South Asia, Accor, says that they have developed a growth mindset in all aspects of businesses, and going forward, sustainability, growth performance and bringing rate parity is high on their priority.
Nisha Verma
Pratima Badhwar, Head of Commercial – India & South Asia, Accor says that 2023 was a great year for the Indian market. “We have had a strong standing in this market and every year we try and deepen that standing. 2023 has been a testimony to that as well,” she adds.
The year that was
In 2023, their focus was on driving performance for the hotels across the portfolio. “This has been the foremost parameter for our future growth plans to drive more investment or working with new owners. It was our best year. Majority chunk of our business is Indian, and we are continuing to reap every opportunity that comes with it, along with international business, which has started to come back. We are deepening our roots and going to various markets, whether it’s SMEs or sports or weddings or corporate. COVID has taught us a big lesson—you cannot ignore the Indian market. Thus, as an international hotel operating company we have changed gears in the last couple of years and made Indian market into our success story.”
Future forward approach
Saying that they have developed a growth mindset in all aspects of their businesses, Badhwar highlights, “From signing or developing new hotels across the country, performance, talent management to sustainability measures, we are only looking forward into the future. We have 61 operating hotels and we opened six new hotels in 2023 across all segments. We have also signed 8 new deals for the year.”
In addition, their focus is on the loyalty program called Accor Live Limitless-ALL, she shares.
Global outlook
Badhwar says that they have 6,500 plus hotels across the globe. “Indian travel industry is growing, along with its M!CE segment. Our travellers are willing to explore new locations and destinations. Our continuous effort will be into developing more brands, bringing in more brands into the country and signing more deals to get more hotels into our network,” she adds.
B2B engagement
Claiming that their partnership with travel trade is getting stronger, she says, “Travel trade is an integral part of our business within the country, and even internationally. A lot of our business goes out of India into our global hotels, and we will continue to strengthen that relationship. For example, we have opened a Grand Mercure in Agra and a Novotel in Jodhpur and one Novotel in Jaipur. We already have a Fairmont in Jaipur and six hotels in Goa, which are some of the key travel trade driven locations.”
Talking about rate parity, she adds, “We are partners for travel trade and want to drive rate parity across all our channels. For the travel trade exclusively, we run limited time program. For example, for series we can have special rates quoted out or if there are certain FIT groups, we can have special rates offered for inbound especially. For domestic business, if there is a need for certain hotels, we curate offers accordingly. Else, we try and keep our discounting or structures consistent.”
Sustainability at core
Insisting that sustainability is at the core of what they do, she explains, “Accor has been one of the early adopters and being a sustainable organisation. As of 2022, we have got rid of all single use plastic in our hotels across the country. We have got water bottling plants in most of our hotels. We are now working on tools where we can reduce food wastage. Most of our corporate customers are now coming back to ensure that we are carbon neutral, or the meetings we do are carbon neutral. Even for new hotels being developed, especially Greenfield projects,
various aspects of the buildings are being considered to meet green standards.”
Increased ARRs a blessing
Post-COVID, the Average Room Rate (ARRs) have skyrocketed even for budget properties across the country. Badhwar laughs it off saying, “India was the most under-sold market. With the kind of products that we have, the service we deliver, one cannot get hotels in $80-100 anywhere. I think a good takeaway of COVID is that we are getting the rates corrected for the country.”
