‘People want to step out of their houses to simply relive the joys of travelling and to relax’

Innovation and creativity will continue to have a centre stage in the hospitality industry. We feel that the fraternity will remain dynamic but will now be extra cautious and agile. It will be imperative to drive consistency across the board for delivering guests an experience that continues to keep their safety and hygiene at the helm.

At Accor, we will every day bring the best versions of ourselves by working smarter, driving performance, and continuously delivering quality service. We believe that in 2021, the industry will emerge stronger and provide seamless hospitality to our guests.

Guests have become more tech-savvy during the lockdown and digital interaction has gained popularity now more than ever before. The hospitality industry has been aggressively embraced technology; starting from booking the room to check-in, check-outs and payment procedures. Consumers also prefer emails, digital posters, and digital menus for all the communication.

There is also a new trend of virtual events and weddings in the MICE segment. At several Accor’s hotels, we saw a rise in demand for curated and virtual weddings. We have also launched ‘Vivaah at Novotel’, which provides our guests an opportunity to connect with all their relatives and friends to join in for the celebrations from different cities virtually.

We have witnessed an ongoing trend of domestic leisure travel as well, especially for weekend getaways, staycations, drivecations, and celebrating special occasions. People want to step out of their house to simply relive the joys of travelling and to relax. The overdue pent-up demand for travel and the festive season have helped the industry in recovery.

We are cautiously optimistic about 2021. In terms of planning, we have pivoted from the usual short and longterm plans to take a more flexible approach by concentrating on our ALLSAFE protocols and messaging. We are staying agile, keeping an eye on changing trends, vigilantly observing behavioral changes in our guests, and swiftly working accordingly with our teams across to deliver the best of our services to guests. We are looking at everything quarter by quarter to stay aligned with changing guest’s preferences and restrictions by the government and travel policies.

We will take a renewed approach towards our existing partnerships and campaigns next year. We will continue providing our guests the most memorable experiences curated by our loyalty programme ALL - Accor Live Limitless. 2021 also marks the launch of the first Raffles in India, one of the most luxurious and coveted brands in the world. We will have a memorable launch, as this expands our luxury portfolio in the country and will be the 10th Accor brand available in India and South Asia.