For Accor in China, the next phase is not simply about adding rooms, but rebuilding the foundations that make growth sustainable.
Recently, Accor Greater China CEO Kent Zhu sat down with TravelDaily China CEO Charlie Li to unpack Accor’s China strategy. From its membership system, brand portfolio, and localized operations to its plan for 800 new hotel openings and expansion into lower-tier markets, the discussion reflected not only the growth trajectory of an international hotel group in China, but also an ongoing exploration of brand value reinvention.
When discussing OTA platforms, Zhu pointed to a common industry phenomenon: pricing strategies between online and offline channels are not always fully aligned. Offline teams may offer lower prices to secure traffic and bookings, ultimately leading to rate discrepancies between hotel direct channels and third-party platforms.
For consumers, such differences are not easy to understand.
“Guests don’t think it’s a platform issue; they think it means your management is poor.”
The value of hotel direct channels goes far beyond bookings. For international hotel groups, they connect membership systems, customer data, and long-term relationships. When bookings increasingly flow to OTA platforms, the direct connection between brands and consumers is gradually weakened.
The challenge is that even when international hotel groups recognize this risk, they may not always have sufficient control to address it.
If OTAs have reshaped the transactional relationship between hotels and users, AI may further reshape how users discover hotels.
In Zhu’s view, today’s large language model–driven search bears some resemblance to the Google organic search era.
However, users are no longer entering simple keywords; instead, they describe their needs directly. Search behavior is shifting from keyword matching to intent expression, amplifying a long-standing issue in the hotel industry—insufficient data granularity.
This means hotels need to rebuild their tagging systems, service information, and content structures, turning scattered details into structured, searchable, and matchable data assets.
Those who can express service details more completely and organize them more clearly will have a better chance of entering users’ consideration set.
Against this backdrop, Zhu is candid about Accor’s own positioning.
In his view, during China’s past decade of rapid hotel development—especially the expansion window for high-end and luxury segments—Accor did not build as comprehensive a footprint as some of its international peers.
Even after acquiring luxury brands such as Fairmont and Raffles, these assets remain in a phase of integration and value reactivation.
By the time these brands gradually stabilized operations, the external market environment had already changed.
He notes that while Accor owns high-quality assets, their full value has not yet been fully unlocked. At the same time, the group’s relatively low-profile market communication over the years has left some owners and consumers with a vague perception of the brand.
Therefore, his first priority after taking over Accor Greater China was not expansion pace, but a “Rebuild Foundation” strategy.
This means re-examining core capabilities, brand architecture, organizational alignment, and positioning in the China market.
These efforts share a common goal: strengthening fundamentals before pursuing the next phase of growth.
Under this logic, Accor’s brand strategy has also been adjusted.
In first-tier cities and key tourism destinations, the group is prioritizing its luxury and upper-upscale brands—Fairmont, Raffles, Sofitel, and Swissôtel. Through stable project execution and clearer market communication, Accor aims to rebuild brand recognition among both owners and consumers. In broader markets, it continues to expand its midscale and economy segments through partnerships with local players such as H World Group.
Brands are no longer expanding as a single bloc, but advancing through a layered strategy.
From pricing distortions across distribution channels, to AI reshaping user decision-making, to the refinement of service granularity, all discussions ultimately converge on a core question: amid structural industry change, how should hotel groups reposition themselves in the market?
For Accor, 2026 is a transitional period of continuous refinement rather than a sudden turning point.
