Accor has set its ALL loyalty program as one of the business's strategic focuses for 2021.
Announcing results for 2020, the hotel giant says it wants to speed up its personalization efforts via the loyalty scheme that was first unveiled two years ago.
Accor posted a net loss of almost €2 billion for the year, with consolidated its revenue figure of €1.6 billion coming in down 60% on revenue in 2019.
The company's EBITDA loss was €391 million.
In its HotelServices business, Accor reported revenue of €1.1 billion, almost down almost 60% year-over-year.
Accor’s new business division, which includes private rentals, private sales and digital services for hotels, reported revenue of €91 million, down 42.9% on a like-for-like basis.
Other strategic initiatives for the year include the company’s RESET €200 million cost savings plan, which was announced in August 2020.
Accor says it reduced its average monthly cash burn to €61 million for 2020 compared with the €80 million monthly cash burn reported in the first half of 2020.
It also says it expects the cost savings plan to contribute €71 million to EBITDA in 2021.
The France-based hotel giant also plans to accelerate growth in 2021 and says it opened 205 hotels in 2020 and has a pipeline of more than 1,000 hotels.
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Commenting on the results, Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO, says: “The group’s rollout of measures to protect its financials was quick and disciplined. The measures delivered benefits over the second half of the year, and helped to limit the impact of the health crisis.
"The group also continued with the rollout of large-scale initiatives to plan ahead for the economic recovery and consolidate its leadership position in lifestyle: implementation of a new streamlined and agile organization, a merger with Ennismore through the creation of a dedicated entity comprising 12 unique hotel brands, and the signing of a strategic partnership with the Faena brand.
“In 2021, while the vaccine is ensuring a gradual rebound in tourism—largely driven by leisure guests—Accor is ideally positioned to benefit from the recovery and press ahead with its roadmap.”
Bazin also says Accor has not "reengaged" with Sabre on the PMS and reservation system development deal that was originally announced in January 2020 because of the current volatility.
In a short clip on the results, Jean-Jacques Morin, deputy CEO and chief financial officer, says that the numbers are what they are but that the company did its best in the circumstances.
He adds that Accor will "surf the recovery wave."