ACCOR

Accor



Accor

Introduction

Accor SA is a leading player in the hospitality business in Europe with well established presence across the globe. It operates in more than 90 countries in Europe, Latin America North America, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. It is headquartered in Evry, France and employs 145,000 people. The group recorded revenues of E5, 948 million ($7,891.2 million) during the financial year ended December 2010 (FY2010), an increase of 8.3% over FY2009. The operating profit of the group was E334 million ($443.1 million) in FY2010, as compared to an operating profit of E108 million ($143.3 million) in FY2009. The net profit was E3, 600 million ($4,776.1 million) in FY2010, as compared to a net loss of E282 million ($374.1 million) in FY2009. Accor SA (Accor or 'the group') is a major global hotel operator (Accor, 2010).

Discussion

In 2010, Accor operated 1,424 hotels in France; 934 hotels in the rest of Europe; 1,107 hotels in North America; 187 Latin America and Caribbean; and 577 in other countries. Out of these 4,229 hotels, 24% were franchised, 17% were owned, 19% were on fixed-rent lease, 18% were on variable rent lease and 22% were on management contract (MacDonald, 1999).

Accor offers a full range of gourmet dining activities through its subsidiary, Lenotre. The subsidiary is the ambassador of French gourmet foods around the world with 13 boutiques in Paris, 2 on the Cote d'Azur and 29 in other countries. It also organizes momentous events and operates a number of restaurants. In all, it has 51 establishments in 10 countries (Accor, 2010). Seeing the potential in the hotel industry and challenges posed by economic recession, Accor shifted its strategic position elements towards building customer loyalty and distinct its position from competitors based on its core competency. Accor deployed an assortment of strategies to position itself as the leader brand in the market. Range of factors were addressed by the Accor to effectively expand in the international market segment, achieving competitive advantage through customer responsiveness, intense focus on risk management, utilizing the core competency of Accor in specializing its offering (Beddoe, 2004). These factors are discussed in the later part of this paper.

Strategic Positioning Analysis of Accor

The strategy adopted by Accor which embraces a focus of a stand-alone hotel business, brings major challenges which can be currency risks in markets where the company is highly exposed. Accor has experienced difficulties in developing its brand, due to a difficult operating environment, thus, the destination remains a challenge for the company. Strategic positioning of Accor has enabled to focus on building the brand image of business instead of focusing on profit maximization under the traditional approach of business development (Druce, 2010). This section discusses the strategic positioning elements of Accor.

SWOT Analysis

Accor is emphasizing on sustainable competitive advantage development based on the current strengths and capabilities to trap opportunities. A brief SWOT analysis of Accor is presented below:

SWOT

Strength

Establishes presence across 90 countries

Strong presence in a growing market

Sustainable policies for environmental safety

Weakness

Predominance of leased hotels in hotel ...