First, Accor’s revenues are not directly tied to hotel earnings, which means we must actively support hotel owners in optimizing their physical assets — whether that’s hotel rooms, bars, or restaurants — by leveraging digital services.

The second challenge revolves around margins. With three-quarters of bookings now happening online, maximizing profitability through direct bookings is critical. Rather than relying on online travel aggregators (OTAs) like Booking.com or Expedia, we aim to drive guests to book directly through our app, website, and other owned channels, ensuring a more personalized experience.

The third and perhaps most crucial challenge is loyalty. Digital-first platforms like Booking.com and Expedia have significant resources to attract traffic through paid ads and search optimization. For Accor, however, the focus is on strengthening relationships with our existing loyalty members — encouraging them to return by delivering a seamless, personalized experience. This extends beyond just the room stay; it’s about crafting an end-to-end journey before, during, and after the stay, offering guests not just accommodation, but a richer, more immersive experience.

If we want to build loyalty in this highly competitive industry, we need to ensure our guests keep coming back — both to our hotels and our direct channels. And the key to that is personalization.

I have four kids, and when I stay at a hotel, I want an extra bed for them. For me, a truly personalized experience would mean the hotel is already prepared with that extra bed before I even ask. It’s a logistical challenge, but imagine the convenience of booking a room and the front desk already knowing my family’s needs.

Or take my son’s allergy — if the hotel desk recognizes this when I check in and says, “Hello, Mr. Guilmard, we see you’re traveling with your son, and we’ve already briefed the staff about his allergy,” that’s incredibly valuable. It’s these small but significant touches that create a seamless guest experience.

And all of this comes down to data. To personalize effectively, hotels need to truly know their guests and ensure the right data is available at the right moment. But personalization isn’t just about meeting known needs — it’s also about anticipating them.

For instance, if I’m traveling to a Sofitel in Barcelona, I’d love to receive a notification at check-in saying, “Mr. Guilmard, we know you’re passionate about sailing. Did you know the America’s Cup is happening in the Barcelona Harbor? With the Accor Live Limitless program, you have exclusive access — redeem your points to experience it firsthand.”

That’s real personalization — not just fulfilling expectations but surprising guests with experiences they didn’t even know they wanted. And that level of service? It’s powered by data and AI.

We’ve talked about AI’s role in personalization, but there’s an elephant in the room — GenAI and large language models.

I’m convinced that in the travel industry, GenAI will have a significant impact on our business. It has the potential to disrupt how guests book their trips. Instead of using Google to search for destinations, compare cities, and then look for flights and hotels, travelers might turn to GenAI tools like ChatGPT or Mistral. These AI-powered assistants could help them plan their entire journey — from choosing a destination to booking flights and accommodations — all in one seamless conversation.

A fascinating report from Oliver Wyman explored this shift in traveler behavior. It found that over 31% of travelers would use GenAI to book their next trip. Even more compelling for Accor, the numbers skyrocketed when looking beyond traditional travelers. Among our loyalty premium users, 55% are already using our ready-to-use GenAI tools to plan and book their travel.

This presents both an opportunity and a challenge. We need to ensure our systems are ready to integrate advanced travel assistants into customer care, offering seamless AI-driven experiences that meet these evolving expectations.

There are two key elements to consider. The first is the recent launch of SearchGPT, which is already influencing how people search on Google. We’re seeing a growing shift toward searches conducted through large language models like ChatGPT or Bing.

This presents a new challenge for us. We’ve invested heavily in search engine optimization (SEO), but with GenAI reshaping search behavior, we have to ask ourselves — how will this impact the industry? Do we need to rethink our approach to SEO? These are critical questions that are already impacting our strategy.

That said, no matter how much technology evolves, the human element will remain at the heart of our business. The in-person experience — how we interact with our guests, the warmth of our service, the way we anticipate their needs — will always be the defining factor in hospitality, despite these digital disruptions.