Accor discuss with ONCF the Palais Jamai
The Palais Jamai is managed for ten years, 1997 exactly, by Accor under a lease agreement with ONCF, owner of the establishment. Upon signature, critics had rocket among professionals who questioned the level of rent "too low" in their eyes. That is completely false, Dominique contends Colliat, Director of Operations Sofitel Southern Europe and North Africa. What is certain however, "is that we have not made much profit on this hotel," she adds mischievously.
The rate of hotel occupancy has risen indeed, but still modest, we must not forget that Fez is a niche market for this type of product, and it takes several years to develop. So, the rent might be interesting at a time, but despite everything, we did not win much money. "If it had been far higher, Accor would have lost money, and this would have been a good deal for anyone," says Colliat.
As part of the repositioning of the Sofitel, Accor has proposed to his partner ONCF processing Palais Jamai in "New Sofitel Legend," the concept with which he intends to tackle the lucrative segment of the hospitality very luxurious. "This unit is our legendary hotel that you want to return to the category of luxury hotels," explains Dominique Colliat. After an upgrade in depth, the Palais Jamai is part of a circle of a handful of hotels that form the backbone of the Accor group on the market for high customer contribution.
Discussions with ONCF are involved including the funding of renovations. Who should pay for this upgrade? The owner of course, as is done in the leases of the walls in the hotel. The project is heavy and will require between 20 and 30 million euros (220 to 330 million dirhams), drops the Director of Operations Sofitel Southern Europe and North Africa, declined to comment further.
If there is no point of blocking the negotiations with the owner, however, proved more difficult than expected because it is a financial issue. "These are not things that are concluded in two days, it is natural that each party to ensure its interests," half-word recognition responsible for the group Accor. In any case, the components of the renovation project presented ONCF seem to agree and are in perfect harmony with the personality of this legendary hotel.
On the world market of luxury, the French hotel industry, Accor is the representative of which has a time lag behind the American competition. The household is in the portfolio of brands including restructuring of the Sofitel brand launched two years ago is designed to address this gap and bring greater coherence to the whole. All units that could not return to the luxury category were taken out of the portfolio. For the French group, the direct competition for future Sofitel New Legend is formed of Hyatt International, etc..
Concerning a possible impact of the crisis on attendance Sofitel units in the region supervised, Spain, Italy, England and Greece are at low ebb, recognizes the responsibility of Accor. Paradoxically, Morocco is much less affected because the activity tourism will suffer unless the corporate segment. But in Marrakech, the arrival of luxury brands American promises a fight on the luxury clientele. However, no question Accor to launch promotions in the bidding: "our strategy is to resist and try to play on other levers, such as quality of service," explains Dominique Colliat.
In the region, and despite the downturn in the market for business travelers, the Sofitel Algiers seems for the moment on another planet. Neither his attendance or performance do not seem to suffer from the crisis in Europe. He did not face the same competition in other cities. In Algiers, the Sofitel is "sharing" calmly walked with two other institutions.
Source: The Economist
