Page 73 - Forbes - Asia (March 2020)
P. 73
S tanding in the lobby of Sin-
gapore’s iconic Raffles Hotel,
Sébastien Bazin, the CEO of
the French hotel giant Accor,
declares: “This is the best hotel
on the planet,” drawing applause and cheers of 71
“bravo” from the VIPs gathered to hear him. He
made the remarks at the official reopening last
October of one of Asia’s grandest hotels, first F
opened in 1887 and which Accor manages. The
hotel had undergone a two-year renovation ru- ORBES LIFE
mored to have cost at least $100 million (the ho-
tel is mum on the exact figure).
The Raffles reentry into the Asia hospitali-
ty scene is a crucial part of Bazin’s global strat-
egy for the world’s fifth-largest hotel chain by
rooms. While Accor has long used its budget
brands as a major cash cow, Bazin, 58, is deter- Singapore’s iconic press Hotel, named after the storied train, due to
mined to push further into luxury, where mar- Raffles Hotel, first open this summer.
opened in 1887.
gins are fatter. “When I started six years ago, Thanks to Bazin’s drive—he says he spends
luxury was less than 20% in terms of revenue. It 260 nights a year on the road—Accor is on track
will be 50% of our revenue in 2020,” says Bazin to manage more than 5,000 hotels by the end of
in an exclusive interview held just hours before this year, up from 4,900 today. In Asia, a new Ac-
the Raffles reopening. (The interview was held cor property opens every three days. “We believe
before the coronavirus outbreak, so that topic that Accor hotels will continue benefiting from its
was not discussed.) well-balanced geographical hotel presence,” says
Asia is the regional focus for Accor now, says Yi Zhong, an analyst at Paris-based AlphaValue.
Bazin. Already the biggest hotel operator in Eu- With the hospitality industry under massive
rope and facing stiff competition in the U.S. from consolidation, Bazin must ensure Accor remains
Hilton and Marriott, Bazin sees Asia as ripe for big enough to be the predator and not the prey.
expansion. China alone sends 150 million tour- Getting Raffles back on the market is a leg up on
ists abroad each year, according to government Accor’s biggest rivals—Marriott and Hilton—by
data, at least two-thirds to destinations in Asia. building a constellation of accommodations that
After his Singapore stopover, Bazin headed to keep loyal lodgers constantly coming back and
Bangkok to inspect progress on a new Orient Ex- owners happy. “Every brand we add gives us an-
other opportunity to seduce an owner,” says Bazin.
Bazin needs owners and brands, due to its “as-
set light” model of managing hotels rather than
ACCOR’S owning them—more than 90% of Accor’s hotels
PORTFOLIO Adagio Access are operated as management agreements and
Breakfree
Greet franchised (up from 59% when Bazin came in).
ECONOMY HotelF1 After selling 58% of its real estate holdings in
297,403 rooms Ibis
25Hours 2018 to a group of investors that included Singa-
Ibis Styles
Art Series
Ibis Budget pore’s GIC and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment
Fairmont Jo & Joe
Grand Mercure UPSCALE Fund for €4.6 billion ($5 billion), Bazin has been
ATHANASIOS GIOUMPASIS/GETTY IMAGES Peppers rooms 246,750 rooms Adagio familiar brands like Mercure and Pullman to a
Mantis
buying up hotel brands to round out Accor’s sta-
MGallery
ble, expanding it since 2013 from 14 of Accor’s
195,384
Movenpick
Pullman
bench of more than 30 that includes Fairmont,
Raffles
Swissôtel and Raffles.
Rixos
Mama Shelter
Frenchman Bazin’s path to the head of Accor
MID-SCALE
SBE
Mantra
So by Sofitel
is atypical. While others in similar positions are
Novotel
Sofitel
Novotel Suites
normally seasoned hoteliers, Bazin’s former ca-
Swissôtel
Mercure
The Sebel
based in London, New York, San Francisco and
Source: Accor, December 2019
F ORBES A SIA
MAR CH 2020 Tribe reer was in dealmaking, as an investment banker
