ALL Accor Aims At Sports, Entertainment And Food In New Loyalty Effort

For decades, edifice loyalty programs were mostly built astir a acquainted proposition: enactment more, gain more, redeem later. The worth equation was rational, transactional and casual to understand.

Frequent travelers accumulated points, elite presumption and, eventually, escaped nights.

ALL Accor is trying to propulsion that exemplary into a much emotional, experience-led future. After all, if you question often, sometimes the thought of different nighttime isn’t truthful exciting.

In a caller Zoom conversation, Mehdi Hemici, Chief Loyalty & E-Commerce Officer astatine Accor, described a loyalty strategy that is little astir simply rewarding edifice stays and much astir gathering a planetary ecosystem astir passions: sports, amusement and gastronomy. The thought is straightforward but powerful. Points are inactive important, but they are nary longer the full story. They are, successful Hemici’s words, “a means to an end.”

Accor Loyalty exec, Mehdi Hemici

Accor

The existent extremity is to make access, designation and memorable moments that marque members consciousness known, valued and emotionally connected to the brand.

Hotel Loyalty Must Move Beyond Free Nights

The question manufacture is facing a caller loyalty challenge. Customer acquisition is expensive. Competition is intense. Consumers person much prime than ever. As a result, the aged maturation exemplary of simply uncovering caller customers is giving mode to a narration exemplary focused connected retention, advocacy and beingness value.

Hemici said ALL Accor saw this displacement intelligibly erstwhile it began gathering what helium described arsenic a next-generation loyalty level successful 2019. Travelers wanted worth and transparency first. They wanted to cognize they were buying astatine the close price, with nary hidden conditions and a wide worth exchange.

But erstwhile that threshold was met, they wanted thing deeper.

They wanted affectional connection. They wanted designation that traveled with them. They wanted a loyalty programme that reflected who they are, not conscionable however often they publication a room.

That penetration led ALL Accor to absorption connected 3 passionateness points with wide planetary appeal: sports, amusement and food.

ALL Accor’s Loyalty Strategy: Sports, Music And Food

ALL Accor has built partnerships and experiences astir venues, teams, tournaments and culinary moments. Hemici pointed to Accor Arena successful Paris, Wembley Arena successful London, Accor Stadium successful Sydney, Kudos Bank Arena successful Sydney and different venues arsenic portion of a broader acquisition ecosystem that gives members entree to sports, euphony and entertainment.

The institution besides works with properties and partnerships tied to Roland-Garros, Paris Saint-Germain and SailGP. In gastronomy, ALL Accor has worked with nutrient festivals specified arsenic Taste of Paris and Taste of London, portion progressively utilizing its ain chefs and hotels to make culinary masterclasses and behind-the-scenes experiences.

The strategical constituent is not simply to sponsor events. It is to alteration entree into memory.

A accepted edifice sponsorship mightiness mean signage, a hospitality suite and VIP hosting. ALL Accor is trying to spell further. Hemici described however the institution brought the vigor of Roland-Garros into its hotels successful cities including Tokyo, São Paulo, Shanghai and Paris. Hotels were reimagined with immersive tennis-themed experiences, masterclasses and appearances from players. In Paris, ALL Accor adjacent transformed areas of the Royal Monceau Raffles, the archetypal Parisian palace ever wholly reimagined astir Roland-Garros, turning a sporting lawsuit into a unsocial hospitality experience.

This is loyalty arsenic participation, not conscionable promotion.

Live Events Are Becoming The New Loyalty Currency

One of the astir compelling examples Hemici shared was La Suite Novotel by ALL Accor wrong the Paris Saint-Germain stadium, wherever members tin ticker a lucifer and past slumber wrong the venue with family. For a predominant traveler who whitethorn already walk 150 oregon 180 nights a twelvemonth successful hotels, different escaped nighttime whitethorn not beryllium the astir motivating reward.

But sleeping wrong a stadium aft a PSG match? That is simply a story.

Hemici framed this benignant of reward arsenic a “storytelling moment.” It creates thing members retrieve and share. It gives the loyalty programme taste relevance beyond the edifice enactment itself.

Another illustration is ALL Accor’s Dream Tournament with PSG Legends, wherever members redeem points for the accidental to play with erstwhile iconic players. Hemici said the intent is not simply marque amplification. It is astir delivering connected a puerility dream.

That favoritism matters. When loyalty becomes experiential, the reward is nary longer conscionable economic. It becomes affectional and social. It gives members thing they cannot easy buy, comparison oregon replicate.

The Business Case For Emotional Loyalty

Experience-led loyalty tin dependable costly oregon hard to scale. The evident question is whether these non-hotel rewards really assistance the halfway edifice business.

Hemici said ALL Accor is seeing beardown grounds that they do.

According to him, today, 1 retired of each 3 country bookings wrong the ALL Accor portfolio is made by a loyalty member, a wide indicator of the program’s increasing centrality successful however guests take wherever to stay. He besides said members who acquisition these passion-led rewards travel backmost 3.5 times much often than non-members and walk doubly arsenic much.

That is the concern lawsuit for emotional loyalty. Experiences whitethorn beryllium extracurricular the edifice stay, but they tin reenforce the edifice relationship. Members gain done the halfway concern and redeem done a broader ecosystem. The much compelling the redemption options become, the much reasons members person to enactment engaged.

In different words, expanding loyalty beyond hotels does not person to dilute the edifice business. Done well, it tin marque the edifice marque much cardinal to a member’s lifestyle.

Why Gen Z And Millennials Are Joining Through Experiences

The adjacent question of loyalty maturation whitethorn not statesman with the edifice marque astatine all.

Hemici said younger consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, are progressively discovering ALL Accor done the excitement of experiences connected platforms similar TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. They whitethorn archetypal spot a music, sports oregon nutrient acquisition and lone aboriginal recognize the breadth of Accor’s edifice portfolio, which includes brands specified arsenic Fairmont, Raffles, Mondrian, Pullman, Sofitel and Banyan Tree.

That reverses the accepted loyalty funnel.

Historically, a traveler stayed astatine a hotel, joined the programme and past learned astir rewards. Now, a younger user whitethorn observe the reward acquisition first, articulation due to the fact that the programme feels culturally applicable and past enactment backward into the edifice brands and booking behavior.

This is particularly important due to the fact that younger consumers thin to worth transparency, simplicity and easiness of use. Hemici said ALL Accor gives members a wide euro- oregon dollar-correlated worth for points successful the integer wallet erstwhile those points are utilized for edifice stays. That clarity helps demystify the programme and gives members assurance that their points person understandable value.

The acquisition portfolio creates aspiration. The transparent points exemplary creates trust.

Both are needed.

ALL Accor’s Next Move: A New Experience Platform With Fever

ALL Accor is besides preparing the adjacent signifier of its acquisition strategy. Hemici said the institution plans to motorboat a caller acquisition level successful Q1 2027, built with Fever, the acquisition find and ticketing company.

The extremity is to harvester ALL Accor’s ain acquisition assets with caller experiences sourced done Fever. Hemici described the level arsenic a mode to marque experiences applicable some “at location oregon away,” not lone erstwhile members are traveling.

That constituent is important. A edifice loyalty programme that lone matters during a travel has constricted frequency. A loyalty ecosystem that connects with members astatine home, earlier travel, during question and aft question has much chances to physique habit, data, relevance and affectional connection.

ALL Accor has already built a sizable platform. Hemici said the programme present offers much than 7,000 events and experiences per year. He besides said ALL Accor’s loyalty programme has reached much than 100 cardinal members since launching successful precocious 2019.

Those numbers suggest this is not a broadside project. It is simply a strategical repositioning of what edifice loyalty tin become.

The Future Of Loyalty Is Access, Recognition And Memory

ALL Accor’s attack reflects a broader displacement crossed travel, hospitality and user loyalty. Points inactive matter. Free nights inactive matter. Price and worth inactive matter. But they are progressively array stakes.

The adjacent frontier is affectional differentiation.

Members privation to consciousness recognized. They privation a programme that understands their passions. They privation rewards that consciousness personal, shareable and memorable. They privation the loyalty marque to unfastened doors they could not unfastened connected their own.

For ALL Accor, that means utilizing hotels not conscionable arsenic places to sleep, but arsenic gateways into culture, sport, euphony and food. It means treating loyalty not arsenic a ledger of transactions, but arsenic a level for experiences.

The winners successful the adjacent procreation of loyalty volition not beryllium the companies with the astir analyzable points charts. They volition beryllium the companies that marque members consciousness something.

ALL Accor is betting that the aboriginal of edifice loyalty is not conscionable astir wherever travelers stay.

It is astir what they remember.