Accor CEO Europe & North Africa Patrick Mendes said that with 80 per cent of the development across the company’s brands in premium and luxury now within mixed use projects, consistency is now a very different concept from 20 years ago.

“Consistency in the past was about being very tough with standards, but now you keep the standards behind the scene for activities such as construction, ESG and so on but now the customer wants to see something different,” he said.

Accor gives the economy hotel segment of its portfolio four choices of rooms, for example, and a variety of activations, so each hotel – even at the budget end – are no longer identical. He stressed that this was especially important because hotels needed to differentiate.

“Greece has the same number of Airbnb rooms as hotel rooms. If we don’t make the hotels fun and different, then we’re dead,” he said. “With a few differences you can make two hotels from the same brand into something very different.”

He added that Accor is looking to develop its franchise business but said that the preferred model depends on the geography and also the brand as it offers management, ownership and franchise.

“We see across the industry a lot of investment in technology, then a different approach in different countries. For example, for our luxury brands I might be more likely to go in with our own hotels to Eastern Europe, but for economy I would more likely partner with a local business,” he stressed. “However, we are still facing a lot of difficulties with employees and finding the right people to work in hotels and tourism, we still have a job to do. Still too many people consider it a second chance career.”

Casa Collective Hotels Managing Director Claire Camplisson added that for investors, when looking at a cookie cutter franchise, for uplift, or targeted capex, a business is now more likely to go from “cookie cutter A” to something more distinctive, that has more traction with the guests.

She also stressed the importance of simplicity, which she predicted would be a major trend for 2025.

“Customers don’t want to spend too much time researching, booking or travelling. And when you are on a property you want to spend time with your family in a way that suits you,” she said. “It is important to always remember who your customer is and that it is a dynamic market in terms of their tastes and also how the book a hotel, which you need to reflect constantly.”

Looking at the appeal of markets for tourism, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts President EMEA Dimitris Manikis stressed that it is not only the responsibility of the hotel industry to bolster their home markets.

“There are so many stakeholders in hospitality, which is much more than just hotels. Border control is the face of hospitality of a country. There are so many different touchpoints,” he said. “At the moment there are a lot concerns about over-tourism but it’s not about over-tourism, it’s a living crisis. Our record numbers [in Greece] were in 2019 but no-one was talking about over-tourism. You also need infrastructure developed sustainably. We all have to work together, we can’t just blame the government.”

In terms of brand loyalty, he said that when customers start to feel an affinity to a brand, there is more a group can do, which is why leisure real estate has emerged and why there has been more demand for branded residences.

However, he warned that the travel industry’s obsession with luxury should not distract operators from realising that most travellers cannot afford sky high prices.

“Premium economy is coming back, not everyone can afford a $1,000 for a room a night,” he said.

Looking at the local Greek market, KPI Hotel Management Services Managing Partner Pedro Garcia E Costa added that was a generational change going on in the hotel sector, as more children of family hoteliers no longer wanted to manage them but also do not want to sell them because they were their childhood home. This is where large operators can come in, but only if the project works for everyone, he warned.

“If we come in as a white label, then we need all to be aligned to do a proper job,” he said. “If not, then we won’t be able to.”

By Mark Faithfull