I want over 1000 hotels in India. I don’t want that to take me 20 years: Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin
‘India invented Luxury with Oberoi, Taj and Leela... I am only learning,' says Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin. In a special interaction with Storyboard18, the group chairman and CEO of the French multinational hospitality chain and hotel chain Accor, speaks about the India opportunity, the company's plans, his excitement around the Paris Olympics and more.
“I am a huge India fan,” declares Sébastien Bazin, group chairman and CEO of the French multinational hospitality and hotel chain Accor. “I hate to be a spectator of India, I want to be an active participant here,” he adds.
India, he says, contributes only two percent to Accor Group worldwide. “It is way too small when you guys represent 20 percent of the world,” Bazin says, adding that he intends to change it.
This will be done by dialling up strategy around the budget and luxury properties, he says.
“India will be the third largest economy in three years, I want to be the largest player in this space in the next three years," says Bazin.
Accor currently operates 61 hotels across 4 different segments in India. Its brands across luxury include Raffles, Fairmont and Sofitel. In the premium category it has Grand Mercure and Pullman. In mid segment it operates Novotel and Mercure whereas in economy it has ibis and ibis Styles. The company will focus on both volumes and luxury.
Expansion plans
Accor Group’s strategic approach to growth in 2024 includes the opening of six hotels in the premium, midscale, and economy segments and three luxury and lifestyle hotels, to further enrich its diverse portfolio.
In the luxury hospitality market, Accor will have the new Raffles Jaipur in the second quarter of 2024. In the premium sector, it will be opening Grand Mercure Goa Candolim in the second quarter of 2024. Mercure Chandigarh and ibis Styles Mysuru, which are also opening in 2024, will provide quality and affordable accommodation options for budget-conscious travellers. Apart from this, scheduled for the third quarter of 2024, Accor's Novotel brand will see its footprint expand to key cities with the openings of Novotel Goa Panjim, Novotel New Delhi City Centre, and Novotel Bhubaneswar.
“Well, volume-wise will be going deeper and with more speed on Ibis, Novotel and Mercure. This is where you have the biggest, largest population, the demand and appetite. But in Udaipur, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Goa we are going to make a big push towards luxury with Sofitel, Raffles, Orient Express and Fairmont. So it’s two different ways of approaching and two different teams working on it,” says Bazin.
Business in India
When asked whether it is challenging to establish a luxury hotel brand in India, he says a lot of people had warned him that the luxury market in India may be difficult but he feels that it is not true. “No, it's not more challenging than being in the Middle East or being in San Francisco or being in London. It's kind of the same challenge. But you invented luxury. Oberoi’s invented luxury a long time ago. So did Taj and so did Leela. I am only learning from what existed already and trying to enhance it, which is difficult, by the way,” he says.
As much as he is bullish on India, Bazin also questions the long time taken to open hotels in the country. “It takes 5-6 years to open hotels in India, whereas globally it is around 3-4 years on the higher side. Why does it take two years more to get a hotel running?” he questions. “We will have 100 hotels in India. I want more than 1,000 hotels in India. I don’t want that to take me 20 years, I am too old to wait 20 years,” he says.
With the Paris Olympics around the corner, the chief executive of the French hotel group couldn’t contain his excitement around the event. Accor will be the official partner of the Olympics and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. “We are going to be in the eyes of the entire world. We have to make sure that people remember what they have seen in Paris and give them a chance to come back. It is time to shine and present Paris and Accor in the best way possible.”
