Accor set to underline “audacious” digital strategy with new mobile app

Accor is poised to unveil the results of its bid to lead the digital revolution having brought mobile trip planning platform Wipolo in-house.

Accor is poised to unveil the results of its bid to lead the digital revolution having brought mobile trip planning platform Wipolo in-house.

The French hotel operating giant, which owns multiple brands including Sofitel, Mercure, Pullman and Ibis, is poised to unveil its new Accor app this quarter.

Accor has set out its stall to be a leading adopter of new technologies and was among the first to preview how it will use Apple’s new Watch which launched in the US last month.

In February Accor brought in e-commerce nous in the form of former Opodo and Virgin Holidays boss Chris Roe as vice-president sales, distribution and loyalty for the UK and Ireland.

He told Travolution that Accor’s digital plans were one of the main attractions of the role.“The thing that excites me about Accor is the digital plans. They acknowledged they needed to catch up digitally and the first thing was to go digital first.

“Wipolo are now in the Accor building. It’s an app that integrates all your travel documents in one place and it’s been developed so when you check-in your experience on the app starts.”

Roe said that Accor led the way among global hotel operators in offering free Wi-Fi across all properties.

By June, Accor hopes to have its new app launched with all of its hotel brands coming under the parent brand.

Announcing its Apple Watch app last month Romain Rolleau, senior vice-president of e-commerce, said the chain wanted to be “an audacious digital hospitality player”.

The vision is that the new mobile app and the Watch version will allow guests to access full details of their trip and to book restaurants and other ancillaries like spa treatments.

It will also provide relevant content like menus and room numbers, eventually allowing for a completely automated check-in experience and for guests’ devices to enable room entry.

This week Accorhotels.com, the firm’s multi-brand booking portal, has won the Travel d’Or award for the best hotel website chosen by French Internet users and a panel of industry experts.

Roulleau, said: “We are very proud of this prize, which rewards websites that make a difference on the internet as well as the outstanding work of the Accorhotels e-commerce team.

“We are committed to continuously reworking our website and have already significantly improved the customer experience.

“Our initial achievements include a new, more modern homepage, and the development of new services to help our guests prepare and organize their trips.”