The hotel multinational Accor reported a 60% drop in its income in 2020. In presenting its annual balance sheet and outlook for 2021, the company reported that the global tourism market was hit hard. He attributed the main reason to the fact that in the first year of the pandemic, 80% of countries closed their borders partially or totally.
The company that owns the Sofitel and Ibis brands, among others, estimated that the recovery of the sector in South America will be faster in terms of domestic tourism and recreational travel, while it will be slower for corporate and work commitments. In a virtual meeting before the press, the development of the hotel chain of the Argentine businessman, Alan Faena, was made official, which plans to expand throughout Latin America and the Middle East.
“We never had such a precipitous decline, but the pandemic is going to be behind us at some point, so we have to look forward,” said Thomas Dubaere, CEO of Accor South America, and stated that restrictions on mobility impacted all industries. but especially to the hotel industry. The region of South America showed a negative balance, higher than its world average, with a 65% drop in revenue and a 62% drop in RevPar, a sector variable that measures revenue per available room.
Nevertheless, the firm foresees openings for this year in Argentina: to the Ibis Style Buenos Aires Florida that has already opened on Corrientes Avenue, an SLS will be added in Puerto Madero and a Mercure in Rosario, while the Sofitel in Recoleta will open a French pastry shop on the street.
“The year 2021 started difficult, although we are optimistic because many countries have already started with vaccination. We know that it is a necessary condition to be able to stop the pandemic. We reopen 90% of our hotels and with the closings we had the opportunity to make reforms and prepare the sanitary protocols for the openings, “added Dubaere.
Accor’s regional leader assured that even with the strong hit in the company’s income, the strategy in the short term will not be to lower prices drastically. “With the pandemic there was a rediscovery of domestic destinations, so we are going to focus on that market in the next twelve months,” added the businessman.
Dubaere projects that there will be more hotel franchises in Argentina to consolidate its presence in the country. In the announcement of the annual report, the alliance with Faena was also made official, to develop the Argentine businessman’s hotels in 20 cities around the world, with the prospect of inaugurating the first project in 2023. With a proposal that merges hotels with art, Faena will land in São Paulo, Bogotá, Qatar and several Middle Eastern countries. Accor highlighted Faena’s work at his hotel in Miami, which was voted the best in the city and number two in the United States.
The company in turn presented the survey with the trends of customers who are beginning to settle in the hotel industry in view of the post-pandemic world. In the sector, guests are beginning to demand greater security and hygiene protocols to prevent the coronavirus, that hotels have open-air openings and that reservation and cancellation policies be made more flexible.
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