Accor has signed a partnership with AXA to provide medical care and assistance to guests, including teleconsultations.
The agreement was part of the group’s ongoing efforts to reassure guests and governments that the sector was safe to reopen.
The offering with AXA will be available from July. Guests will also get access to AXA’s medical networks, allowing hotels to make the most relevant referrals - by language and speciality - to their guests in the destinations where Accor is present.
Sébastien Bazin, chairman & CEO, Accor, said: “Welcoming, safeguarding and taking care of others is at the very heart of what we do and who we are as hoteliers. This distinctive partnership with AXA which we have been working on for several months makes even more sense in today’s context. In an increasingly complex environment, our 300,000 team members on the ground will be able to assist our guests and ensure their safety during their stays, turning our hotels into shelters. This initiative combined with our AllSafe enhanced hygiene protocols, will be key to rediscover the Love of Travel in the 5000 Accor properties around the world.”
The group said that, as it prepared “for the post Covid-19 rebound”, the medical service complemented its overall global recovery plan and was included in the enhanced health and prevention protocols that Accor has put in place notably through its AllSafe Cleanliness label in anticipation of the progressive reopening of its hotels across the different regions.
Last month saw Accor announce a partnership with Bureau Veritas to develop a safety and cleanliness certification to allow businesses to reopen.
Accor said that it would, ultimately, create a guide to be made available to all stakeholders in the hospitality industry, enabling them to rigorously apply the health and safety recommendation of authorities, both in guest services spaces and in back office and catering spaces.
European customers will be able to check on a dedicated Bureau Veritas website, before they book their next stay whether any hotel or restaurant has been certified or not by Bureau Veritas.
The label will cover both accommodation and catering, and will set the sanitary standards applicable to all the group’s hotels as well as to other chains and independent hotels. The project was carried out in partnership with doctors and epidemiologists, and has been developed in collaboration with Accor owners and trade associations, such as UMIH, GNC, and GNI.
The project was be shared within Alliance France Tourisme as well as with the relevant ministries (French Ministries of Tourism, Health and Labour). The group said that concrete proposals would be submitted, in France and subsequently in Europe, to the various governments, relevant ministries and committees for the easing of lockdown measures.
Mark Haywood, SVP, Europe, North Africa, & Brazil at RateGain Technologies, told us: ”Healthy hotels will definitely boom but we will see a collapse of many hotels who can't compete with them, who can't afford to pay for the new measures which will be needed. There will be consolidation and the new groups will be able to set themselves apart with health and safety ratings.”
Insight: There is no question that the primary consideration on guests’ minds is safety - and governments around the world have started to respond to this with thoughts on how they think hospitality will look as the lockdown eases.
Accor was the first out of the box with its own protocol, which it has put forward as the standard for all. There is no question that hotels which do not sign up to such protocols will fall behind (and, legally, may be prevented from opening in any case). Owners have debated the cost to them of these measures and some brands have come out and said that they expect the cost to balance out. Room cleaning will be more intensive - but done less frequently.
The battle is now on between the operators as to which regime is most reassuring to the consumer. It’s one thing to trust a brand to offer you a warm cookie, another to trust it with your life.
Accor has ratcheted up the cleanliness arms race with this latest deal, offering access to medical professionals. Once again, the big brands will have to follow - but independents will fall behind. No doubt Accor can offer them safe haven.