LOS ANGELES — The quest to win over high-end, high-spending travelers relies heavily on a hotel company's ability to deliver unique experiences.
Agnès Roquefort, Accor's chief development officer for luxury and lifestyle, said that's a space her company is heavily focused on.
Perhaps the most obvious example of those efforts are the revived Orient Express brand, which combines luxury train travel with high-end hotel stays.
That can be hard to scale in the way a large company like Accor would like, but Roquefort said in an interview at the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit that the company has wide opportunities by focusing on different white spaces.
"Orient Express has this very specific positioning within ... the ultra-luxury segment, but we are convinced that even with the other luxury and lifestyle brands we can go even further in terms of experience," she said.
Roquefort said each Accor hotel brand has to find its defining element in terms of experience, like how Raffles differentiated itself as a luxury brand via personalized butler service.
"And Fairmont [is well-known] for sports, golf resorts and branded residences," she said.
In the near term, Accor's plans for expansion will focus more on moving into new places rather than adding more brands, especially since the company grew its brand portfolio so aggressively over the past decade, Roquefort said.
Because of the long-term history of brands like Fairmont, Accor has a heavy presence in its luxury portfolio across North America. But Roquefort said there is still room for growth, including the soon-to-open Delano South Beach in Miami Beach Florida and a new Fairmont property in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
For the rest of the interview with Accor's Agnès Roquefort, watch the video above or listen to the audio-only podcast version.