Accor Aiming to Accelerate Sustainable Growth with its Strong Hotel Brands, Highly Skilled Teams

Hospitality group Accor recently announced its strategic priorities and medium-term ambitions for a new chapter of growth.

Through its two recently created divisions – “Premium, Midscale and Economy” and “Luxury & Lifestyle” – the group intends to accelerate its sustainable growth with its strong brands, highly skilled teams and simplified and optimized operating model and processes.

“We have set ambitious targets for the coming years,” Accor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sébastien Bazin said in an announcement.

Accor is aiming for an EBITDA target for 2023 of between 920 and 960 million euros, an average annual EBITDA growth rate for 2023-2027 of between 9 and 12 percent, and a return to shareholders of around 3 billion euros.

Moreover, Accor is anticipating 2023 RevPAR growth of 15-20 percent compared with 2022.

“We have great talents, unique brands, owners’ confidence, efficient digital tools, the energy and the desire. It’s now a question of execution,” Bazin said.

To unlock its growth potential, Accor intends to take full advantage of the strengths of each of the two new divisions created in January 2023. For each of them, Accor has defined clear strategic priorities.

The Premium, Midscale and Economy Division (PM&E)

To maximize growth in EBITDA, the Premium, Midscale and Economy division (PM&E) is organized by geography and focuses on three priorities:

– its brands: by consolidating the leadership of its three iconic brands (ibis, Novotel and Pullman), increasing network density thanks to its conversion brands (Mövenpick, Mercure, Handwritten and greet), and strengthening compliance with brand standards.
– its key markets: its biggest and most profitable, by consolidating its leadership in Midscale and Economy, and by seizing growth opportunities in the Premium segment.
– the efficiency of its growth model: to take advantage of scale effects with a clear development strategy, enhancing tools and processes as well as discipline on cost control.

The Luxury & Lifestyle Division

The development of the Luxury & Lifestyle Division, organized by brand, is part of a strategy to strengthen the identity and appeal of iconic brands, offering unique and innovative experiences. The strategic priorities of this division are focused on three areas:

– the brand promise which guarantees unique experiences with each brand.
– the originality and high quality of products and services as a priority to guarantee customer loyalty, attractiveness for owners and a sense of belonging for talents.
– an ambition to generate strong EBITDA growth.

The two divisions leverage the shared services platform including Procurement, Accor Tech and the Digital & Business Factory.

All Group activities are based around a Sustainable Development strategy with ambitious objectives: trajectory of reducing GHGs in line with the Paris Agreement and validated by the SBTi, implementation of energy and water sobriety plans, elimination of single-use plastics, reduction of food waste and implementation of a voluntary Diversity and Inclusion policy.

“Over the past 10 years, Accor has undergone a radical transformation. Now Asset Light, the Group has expanded its brand portfolio to become the leader in Luxury & Lifestyle, strengthened its geographical footprint and simplified its organization, while preserving its financial independence and the strength of its balance sheet,” Bazin said.

Accor’s targets – Tables

Backed by its strategic priorities and the current dynamism of its activities, Accor is now anticipating 2023 RevPAR growth of 15-20% compared with 2022 and has unveiled an EBITDA target of between €920 million and €960 million based on the business prospects for the current year detailed hereafter.

Medium term, Accor is targeting sustainable growth and cash generation, notably in the service of shareholder returns. Based on the medium-term prospects described in the table, the Group is targeting 9-12% annualized growth in EBITDA between 2023 and 2027.

Accor is a world-leading hospitality group offering experiences across more than 110 countries in 5,400 properties, 10,000 food & beverage venues, wellness facilities and flexible workspaces. The Group has one of the industry’s most diverse hospitality ecosystems, encompassing more than 40 hotel brands from luxury to economy, as well as Lifestyle with Ennismore.