¶ … technology has evolved a great deal, thus resulting in an increase in media freedom and globalization. Moreover, human life in the post information technology has become much faster paced than ever before. Ever since the human civilizations had established, man is looking for ways to relax oneself physically and mentally. Over a period of time the market for leisure and tourism had gain much strength due to increasing demand of travel and tourism. The primary reason for this increasing trend of travelling, both international and domestic, originates to the increase in globalization. People are now becoming more and more interested in exploring new places. For this reason the market for services pertaining to travel and tourism has become extremely competitive. The tourism market covers an extensive array of services including restaurants and eateries, tour guides, theme parks, shopping malls and museums. Researches have shown an interesting trend that while some tourists prefer exploring newer places, many prefer visiting the same destination over and over again. Hall & Page (2002) claim that many tourists prefer visiting destinations they have already visited due to a psychological association that they develop with a certain destination. This is usually true in cases of islands or hill resorts where tourists feel, especially those coming from urban centres, that they find mental peace and tranquility in that remote and natural environment. Marketing has therefore an important role to play in the tourist and travel related businesses in order to identify and target the relevant marketing segments. Hotels are one business that are directly related to travel and tourism category. For this paper we evaluate the marketing strategy of Accor Hospitality.

Accor Hospitality

The market for hotels is a very competitive one (Kapferer 2008). Accor Hospitality aspires to become the world's most valued company to customers, colleagues, investors, business partners, and the communities where they work and live. Accor Hospitality believes in continuous endeavors that aim at making human lives, better and easier, and work practices more efficient and secured. The company believes in adhering to sustainable and ethical business practices such that it is competitive in the international markets around the world.

Accor Hospitality adheres to the most sustainable business practices...

If the company becomes more flexible in terms of management and more innovative in terms of its marketing strategies and brand management, it is inevitable that it captures and maintains the greatest market share in the hotel and leisure industry.
Role of Accor's Marketing Strategy

Product

Accor Hospitality is a very aggressive hotel and leisure company. Their strong Research & Development department focusing the need of the hotel and Leisure industry and creating up-to-date loyalty programs for today's market. Every top level entrepreneur and frequent traveler is willing to use Accor Hospitality's services as it represents they are the leader in the hotel and leisure industry but on the other hand, the price is quite expensive (Grant, 2005).

Placement

Accor also has its presence in some of the world's leading urban centers such as London, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Mumbai, Singapore and Hong Kong. The wide range of services offered by the hotel includes tour desks, swimming pool, gymnasium, casinos, bistros and restaurants, discotheques, shopping plazas, water sports, business centers, banquet halls etc. Accor however has not focused much on resorts and its presence at beaches, islands and hill stations is virtually negligible.

Promotion

Compared to Accor, Hilton, Marriott and Intercontinental offer much more strong brand liaisons and promote closer customer relationships. Marriott offers redemption offers and stays at more than 3000 hotels and resorts around the world. Unlike the other 2, Accor does not have a market for resorts and therefore mainly operates in urban hotel sector. This automatically allows other competitors a greater and easier access to their markets as their loyalty schemes can also be redeemed at their resorts. A good example is Marriott, who besides offering service pertaining to hotel stays and air miles, also provides free cruise trips and stays at various Marriot Beach resorts. This beyond doubt attracts customers more towards hotels such as Marriott's as customers find such incentives useful for holidays, honeymoons and vacations. Accor's loyalty programs on the other hand only appeal more to the corporate sector.

Accor Hospitality's competitors have an aggressive marketing strategy which is pursued parallel to the diversification strategy.…