In the news: sbe’s acquisition by AccorHotels completed, CarTrawler and Dohop partnership, the aviation industry and blockchain, Eurostar’s first loyalty programme alliance with a hotel group
Hospitality: AccorHotels concludes deal to purchase 50% stake in luxury lifestyle operator sbe
Skybar at Mondrian Park Avenue, New York – a sbe property
In July, AccorHotels announced its acquisition of half of New-York based lifestyle hospitality company sbe Entertainment Group (sbe) for US$319 million.
The two parties completed the deal on October 9, with the French hotel group holding a 50% equity and the remaining 50% owned by Sam Nazarian, sbe’s founder and CEO.
Nazarian will continue to lead the company, which will remain independent while retaining its global headquarters in New York.
Through this partnership, AccorHotels will pursue its strategy to expand its offering in the luxury lifestyle hospitality segment and its footprint in North America by adding gateway cities such Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas and New York.
The deal will see sbe hotels, culinary and entertainment venue distributed on the AccorHotels distribution platform, featured on Accorhotels.com and become part of the AccorHotels loyalty programme.
The hospitality group will get a helping hand from AccorHotels in accelerating its international growth with expansion into new markets outside of the US.
Renowned for its unique 360-degree approach to lifestyle hospitality sbe develops, manages and operates global properties and brands that includes luxury residences, serviced apartments, wellness and spa platforms and dining & entertainment experiences.
By the end of the year the lifestyle company will operate 25 hotels comprising 7,498 keys with a majority in North America, 170 restaurants and entertainment venues in global destinations, as well as new properties in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. It currently has a further 20 hotels and residences worldwide in its pipeline, as well as 59 standalone restaurants and nightlife venues in global gateway cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC, Dubai, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Cancun, Tokyo and Los Cabos.
Transport: CarTrawler inks distribution deal with travel search engine Dohop
Dohop’s customers will have direct access to car rental car. (Image credit: cami/iStock-Getty Images).
Global travel technology company CarTrawler is renewing its partnership with flight comparison website Dohop, a deal that will provide the latter’s 200,000 monthly customers direct access to car rental.
Dohop was founded in Reykjavik, Iceland in 2004 and is an independent global travel search engine, helping customers to find the cheapest flights, hotels and cars.
“Our collaborative approach to partnerships, regular promotional sales and product innovations reflect our responsiveness to the needs of our growing partner base,” commented Michael Cunningham, SVP of distribution strategy at CarTrawler.
On the reason for renewing the partnership David Gunnarsson, Dohop CEO, said: “Offering the best flight options has always been our main priority and when it comes to complementary services, we want to deliver the same quality. That is why we choose to work with CarTrawler again as they provide our customers with excellent service and prices.”
Technology: Aviation industry harnessing blockchain for greater efficiency
Blockchain technology gaining traction with the aviation industry. (Image credit: LuckyStep48/iStock-Getty Images)
Blockchain is fast emerging as the priority technology for research among airport and airline CIOs (chief information officer) globally, attracting the most attention this year according to the 2018 SITA Air Transport IT Insights.
Blockchain has potential benefits including managing passenger identity, asset tracking and managing frequent flyers programme, which help stakeholders to work better, states the study.
Today, 59% of airlines have pilot or research programs planned around blockchain for implementation by 2021, up from 42% last year. Similarly, airports also continue to experiment with blockchain with 34% planning R&D projects by 2021.
Both airlines and airports expect blockchain to streamline the passenger identification process with 40% of airlines and 36% of airports saying this would be a major benefit.
Report findings showed airlines believe the technology could help in the rollout of passenger tokens for frequent flyer programmes (34%) and e-tickets (31%). Airport CIOs listed item custody change tracking such as baggage (28%) and operational efficiency (24%) as areas that have potential benefits.
“The biggest obstacles standing in the way of a seamless passenger journey and truly efficient air travel are the siloed processes across the many stakeholders including airlines, airports, ground handlers and control authorities,” said Gustavo Pina, director of SITA Lab.
“They act as significant speed bumps at every step of the way. By collaborating as a single industry we can smooth that journey, and blockchain is one of the technologies that has the potential to potential to make that possible.”
To help the industry understand this technology and to drive its exploration SITA announced in June the launch of the Aviation Blockchain Sandbox. This industry project to explore the potential of blockchain is led and managed by SITA Lab, SITA’s technology research team andwill develop in three stages. The first is opening access to the FlightChain smart contract on the Sandbox, initially with British Airways, Heathrow, Geneva Airport and Miami International Airport, allowing them to solve the issue of flight status data quality. In the second stage SITA will work with organisations that wish to test smart contracts across a number of airline and airport operational use cases. The last stage will see participants run their own node of the blockchain sandbox.
Partnership: Eurostar forms loyalty programme alliance with AccorHotels
Eurostar’s loyalty programme alliance with AccorHotels is a first for the company.(Image credit: Eurostar)
Eurostar, the high speed train operating between the UK and mainland Europe, and AccorHotels have formed a partnership for their loyalty programmes – – Club Eurostar and Le Club AccorHotels.
Described as the “first loyalty programme partnership of its kind”, and is also the the first time Eurostar has joined forces with a hotel group in a loyalty programme alliance.
The collaboration allows members of Club Eurostar members to convert their points into Le Club AccorHotels rewards points, while the latter’s members can also enjoy Eurostar’s loyalty programme’s benefits.
Club Eurostar members can exchange their Le Club AccorHotels rewards points for free nights and discounts at more than 3,500 hotels worldwide. They also have the opportunity to tap into AccorHotels’ multiple rewards offerings such as Elite Experiences, La Collection e-boutique and Dream Stays, as well as exclusive access to sporting and music events at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris.
In turn, the 50 million Le Club AccorHotels members can now access Eurostar’s loyalty programme, including Eurostar tickets, upgrades and special offers, as well as make purchases in the Club Eurostar shop.
Dorothee Mariotte, senior CRM and retention manager for Eurostar, said Club Eurostar was designed for travellers to access a wide range of benefits irrespective of how much they travel or spend.
“The addition of AccorHotels offers even greater flexibility for our members to earn and spend their points. The breadth of accommodation in our destinations makes it the perfect partner to help our customers plan their next trip.”
Isabelle Birem, AccorHotels’ SVP loyalty from AccorHotels added that the vision of Le Club AccorHotels is to offer its members exclusive benefits and privileges. “This large-scale partnership is a major step towards the implementation of the Group’s augmented hospitality strategy in Europe, a strategic market.”
• Featured image: Delano South Beach, Miami, Florida
