ACCORHOTELS ’ PATRICK MENDES BETS BIG ON DIVERSIFICATION AND ADAPTABILITY .
THE PEOPLE ISSUE
Patrick Mendes is group chief commercial officer ,
AccorHotels
Photo : Abaca Press / Sandrine Roudeix
ALL
ABOUT
THE
LIFESTYLE
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ACCORHOTELS ’ PATRICK MENDES BETS BIG ON DIVERSIFICATION AND ADAPTABILITY .
Contributed by ALICIA SHEBER
ccor is going bold on lifestyle ,” says Patrick
“ A Mendes , group chief commercial officer in charge of sales , marketing , distribution and loyalty , AccorHotels . The group ’ s recent acquisition spree led to co-ownership with Ennismore of the Hoxton brand and Scotland ’ s Gleneagles resort , and an increase to 100 % ownership of Sbe ’ s hotels . Including the previously acquired Mama Shelter and 25hours , Accor launched a dedicated lifestyle division , retaining the Ennismore name and uniting all 13 brands under one group managed 50 / 50 by co-CEOs Sharan Pasricha , founder of the original Ennismore collection , and Gaurav Bhushan , previously Accor ’ s chief development officer . “ Having one CEO focused on branding , marketing and distribution , and the other on development , finance and operations helps Accor reach its goal of becoming the number one player in lifestyle hospitality ,” says Mendes . Before the merger , Ennismore was planning to increase its portfolio to 20 to 25 hotels in the next two or three years , but now it plans to reach more than 250 lifestyle properties in that period .
This structure sits well with Accor ’ s wider realignment , which for the first time situates marketing , distribution and loyalty divisions under