Accor has embarked on a project that involves reinvent its business model by leveraging the complementarity between its two historical fields of expertise: operating and franchising hotels, and owning and investing in hotels. The Group is now organized around two strategic divisions – HotelServices and HotelInvest – and they both have clearly defined and differentiated agendas. in 2010, Accor become a pure-player in the hotel business. Having demerged from its service business, Accor intends to its strengths to step up the implementation of its strategy and provide its growth: comprehensive brand portfolio suited to needs, unique know how as the world largest hotel operator, a leadership position in four continents and a business model with sound fundamental that withstood the economical crisis
Since its separation from the service business, Accor SA had followed an ambitious expansions strategy, mainly focusing on emerging markets, the expansion has been concentrated in the three booming economies’ Asian countries: China, India and Indonesia with limited growth in Australia and Vietnam.
Accor’s main focus was to boost and concentrate its level of activity in fast growing economies outside Europe. With the sale of some of the group’s related businesses such as Casino and Catering, and mostly with the sale and leaseback of the group’s owned hotel properties in Europe and North America, Accor found its funded its expansion into faster growth segments and regions.
Accor felt that this approach to managing its existing portfolio and developing new hotels trough franchise agreements would allow it to grow rapidly and take advantage of the new markets in emerging economies.
Another aspect of Accor’s strategy was its focus on sustainable initiatives. The group’s earth guest programme covers a range of activities from encouraging the procurement of fair trade goods