Accorhotels in talks to buy Canada's FRHI (Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel )
Oct 30, 2015, 5:02 am
#1
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,586
Accorhotels in talks to buy Canada's FRHI (Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel )
On Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/...0SN2VU20151029
Europe's largest hotel group Accor SA (ACCP.PA) is planning to buy Canada-based FRHI Hotels & Resorts for about $3 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing sources....
Oct 30, 2015, 5:48 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Berlin
Programs: BA Gold; Accor Plat; IHG Diamond-Amb; Meliá & HH & Marriott Gold
Posts: 5,450
Nice if it happens.
The Swissôtel and Raffles properties would be sensible, good quality additions and reasonably easy to incorporate into the Accor portfolio (possibly even keeping their current branding). Fairmont is a mixed bag -- there would probably be some disposals, a few Sofitels and a Pullman or two.
They must have been impressed by my suggestion in August's "Accor to buy Starwood?" thread.
The Swissôtel and Raffles properties would be sensible, good quality additions and reasonably easy to incorporate into the Accor portfolio (possibly even keeping their current branding). Fairmont is a mixed bag -- there would probably be some disposals, a few Sofitels and a Pullman or two.
They must have been impressed by my suggestion in August's "Accor to buy Starwood?" thread.
Oct 30, 2015, 6:09 am
#3
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,586
They must have been impressed by my suggestion in August's "Accor to buy Starwood?" thread.
Oct 30, 2015, 10:14 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 21,918
That's a scoop !
For Raffles, interesting situations to come in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and, to a lesser extent in Singapore
For Raffles, interesting situations to come in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and, to a lesser extent in Singapore
Oct 30, 2015, 2:16 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC GGL/Gold, Flying Blue Silver, All Accor Gold, Hilton Honours Diamond,
Posts: 527
If it happens the Fairmont brand would start to address Accors current weakness in the North American market which has got to be a positive.
Oct 30, 2015, 6:11 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,307
I agree that Accor is extremely weak here in NA. I'm wondering if Accor goes ahead with the purchase, whether these 3 brands will remain or be incorporated into existing brands (Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery).
Oct 30, 2015, 6:53 pm
#7
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Boston, MA, USA
Programs: FB LTPE, BAEC GGL, EK Blue, SK Gold, Marriott Amb+LTT, IHG Diamond Amb, Accorhotels Silver
Posts: 1,953
Very appropriate move to better balance the mix of properties between Economical, Traditional and Luxury brands.
Oct 31, 2015, 7:14 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Berlin
Programs: BA Gold; Accor Plat; IHG Diamond-Amb; Meliá & HH & Marriott Gold
Posts: 5,450
Oct 31, 2015, 2:46 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,307
One would hope that they would put a lot of thought into deciding which properties to keep and how they should be branded and positioned. But that may be overly optimistic, as Accor's branding policy seems to be all over the place (see, for example, this recent thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/accor...y-sofitel.html).
Last edited by Fanjet; Oct 31, 2015 at 2:51 pm
Oct 31, 2015, 3:26 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: Marriott LT Tit; Hyatt Explorist; Hilton CC Gold; IHG CC Plt; Hertz (MR) 5 star
Posts: 5,536
These brands are too upscale for Accor. Other than Sofitel and Pullman, the bulk of Accor's hotels are geared toward budget conscious travelers. Accor's previous N. American presence were a better fit for Accor.
Accor owned Red Roof Inns 1999-2007 and Motel 6 1990-2012. I don't think that Accor ever incorporated either brand into their loyalty program.
Accor owned Red Roof Inns 1999-2007 and Motel 6 1990-2012. I don't think that Accor ever incorporated either brand into their loyalty program.
Oct 31, 2015, 3:33 pm
#11
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,586
These brands are too upscale for Accor. Other than Sofitel and Pullman, the bulk of Accor's hotels are geared toward budget conscious travelers. Accor's previous N. American presence were a better fit for Accor.
Accor owned Red Roof Inns 1999-2007 and Motel 6 1990-2012. I don't think that Accor ever incorporated either brand into their loyalty program.
Accor owned Red Roof Inns 1999-2007 and Motel 6 1990-2012. I don't think that Accor ever incorporated either brand into their loyalty program.
Oct 31, 2015, 8:58 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: Marriott LT Tit; Hyatt Explorist; Hilton CC Gold; IHG CC Plt; Hertz (MR) 5 star
Posts: 5,536
If they keep the loyalty programs separate, like IHG has done so far with Kimpton, it would be OK. Accor's loyalty program is not at all comparable to Fairmont's.
Nov 1, 2015, 12:15 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Paris, France
Programs: AF/KL Flying Blue Platinum for life/Club2000 Ultimate, Accor ALL Diamond
Posts: 21,918
). Accor has indeed a huge presence in the budget hotels market but has also a very important presence in the upscale market with Pullman, MGallery and Sofitel. We are talking about a lot of hotels here with those 3 brands. That's why one could argue they are a good fit. Raffles could be retained as a brand and possibly Fairmont given the Canadian name recognition, Swissôtel is very bland and doesn't chime with anyone I know so could be dumped and rebranded. A number of hotels would certainly get the chop where there is too much overlap.
I don't see the point of keeping existing loyalty programs after a few months of integration. Useless, costly and you completely loose the benefits of having a global group. A year should be a maximum before merging programs, like for airlines.
Nov 1, 2015, 12:46 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,307
I doubt that IHG is going to keep their loyalty programs separate much longer. What would be the point? There's no incentive for either program's members to stay at the other's hotels. And thus, what was the point of buying the brand in the first place? The same thing will be the case with Accor and this purchase.
Nov 1, 2015, 1:32 am
#15
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: ASIA
Programs: TK Elite, ALL Plus Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hertz PC
Posts: 3,530
Accorhotels in talks to buy Canada's FRHI (Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel )
Even with shoddy IT, the Accor program is on the UP, in my opinion.
So I'm sure are the new "father" Accor will integrate those hotels ASAP.
So I'm sure are the new "father" Accor will integrate those hotels ASAP.