AccorHotels’ Digital Transformation: A Strategic

Response to Hospitality Disruptor Airbnb

Group 5
ANNMARIA SUNNY - PGP/24/130
KAVYASHREE S - PGP/24/152
LAYA - PGP/24/155
MOHAMMED ISHAAN K B - PGP/24/161
NANDHINI BALU - PGP/24/162
 What do you expect from an accommodation
provider?
Leisure Traveller
● Value for money and spacious rooms
● Options for recreational and entertainment activities
Swimming pools, gyms, spas, parks for children
● Location closer to tourist spots, food and shopping streets
● Customized packages that involve tour to tourist sites
● Location closer to airports and railway stations
● ●
Good dining options with offers on buffets
● Helpful and pleasant staff
Business Traveller
● Competitive prices with comfortable rooms
- ● Loyalty programs that grant corporate rates
● Availability of presentation and conference rooms
● Good network and WiFi connectivity
● Rooms constructive for work with proper plug points,
table, chair and lighting
Availability of items like iron and coffee machines
● Availability of cabs for pick up and location closer to
airports and railway stations
● Smooth and quick room service
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 How does Airbnb and Accor meet the expectations of these
travellers respectively?
Accor Hotels
Airbnb
● Airbnb is an aggregator platform to find accomodation,
which helped its customer to discover the feel of living
like local.
● It provided cheaper alternative to hotel room. The
platform was transparent facilitating transactions for hosts
and professional photography service for better discovery.
● Airbnb ensured each listing had accurate portrayal of
amenities and the experience the guest will find during
their stay
● It made sure users also know the negative aspects of the
listing. This ensured high satisfaction rates.
● They had excellent mobile presence which described and
mapped nearby attractions from any connected device.
● They tried to offer better customer experience through
bigger rooms, moore space and kitchen which became a
trendy movement.
● Accor is a traditional large hospitality company owning from luxury to
budget hotels. It offers end to end customer service from booking to
stay and food and beverage, and is directly engaged in driving
customer behaviour.
● It offers different experiences to different to different target groups
through a large number of brands, Example :Ibis brand for economy
segment.
● They incorporated the idea of voice of guests to be more customer
centric. They maintain a database of customers and tries to personalise
the stay in terms of preference.
● They have purchased Mama shelter, created Jo&Joe blending private
rentals, hostels and hotel formats . They started redesigning food and
drinks to create a more local experience.
● A robust single mobile application available in 28 languages and can be
used for online bookings and checking for 4100 hotels under
AccorHotels.
● They provide unparalleled experience by providing them with a
comfortable and luxurious stay with a newly created, digitally
transformed infrastructure
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How different are the value propositions of both the firms? What
are the strengths and weaknesses?
Airbnb
● Airbnb’s initial offering was primarily focused on
providing alternative accommodation facilities, with
affordability and ease & convenience driving the value
proposition
● Later on, the firm began to offer authentic experiences
wherein travellers could experience life as a local and be
part of a trendy lifestyle blending leisure & adventure
Strengths & Weaknesses of Airbnb
● WIde adoption of the platform’s services at cheap and
affordable rates to users while offering a unique
experience with each booking thereby retaining user
engagement
● Liability from regulation & legal violations because of
nascent sharing economy, liability from theft and property
damage, no control over poor hosts damaging brand
reputation
Accor Hotels
● Accor Hotels offers value through its dual competencies
of hotel operation and investment, with a streamlined
digital hotel experience for customers and divestiture of
its hospitality assets to new investors driving the value
proposition respectively
● Focus on customer comfort in all aspects of the
accommodation experience
Strengths & Weaknesses of Accor Hotels
● Solid customer-centric experience model driving
retention, with users being able to seamlessly book,
strong franchise model, change into an e-marketplace for
hotels than be restricted to remain as just another chain
● Lack of a core target segment which can be wholly
catered to, leading to less relation and attachment for
users with the primary brand
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What are the critical success factors of Airbnb and how
sustainable are they?
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS:
● Full transparency of the offerings to manage the
expectations of the customers. This has been achieved by
hiring professional photographers to post quality pictures of
the offerings and ensuring accurate portrayal of amenities
with potential advantages and disadvantages.
● Trust built among users through online reputation system
● Dynamic pricing based on the demand, supply, features, and
amenities of the accommodation
● Authentic experience offered -the sharing concept worked
well with young leisurely travelers who are not interested in
fancy services offered by traditional hotels in adventurous
accommodation options.
● These unique offerings increased the customer satisfaction
ratings and customer loyalty
SUSTAINABILITY:
● Most of the offerings by Airbnb caters to the budget and economy
segment, To increase their customer base they adapted their
offerings to appeal to business travellers.
● Even though Airbnb grew exponentially, there were some
challenges like theft or damage to the property provided in the
accommodation, complaints from the neighbours about noise,
disturbances created by the tenants. These kinds of instances can
reduce the trust among consumers and accommodation providers
that the platform built.
● Regulatory challenges were faced as Airbnb operates in a gray area
where there are no laws that regulate the kind of services provided
by them. These kinds of issues can occur in the future which may
have a negative impact on Airbnb.
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Assess the strategy of Accor and how should it compete with
Airbnb going forward?

▣ Acquisition of digital platforms : this speed up digital transformation

▣ Sufficient investment for R&D
▣ Fully embrace the sharing economy
▣ Promise to consumers – The “ feel welcome” slogan shows company’s strong hospitality
▣ Single mobile app for all hotels
▣ Acquisition helped in growth : Acquiring luxury brands helped them in North America
Competing with Airbnb:
▣ Should invest more on technology and customer
▣ Use customer data to offer tailor made services
▣ Enhance customer experience in each and every step
▣ Should enhance agility and change

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THANK
YOU
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