HOTELS: Accor & IHG merge into world’s largest Hotel group?

There are a couple of press reports that French hotel group Accor is contemplating a with Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG). According to Reuters UK, Accor shares have risen as a result of these reports.

Accor is made up of brands like:

• Fairmont
• Ibis
• MGallery
• Pullman
• Raffles
• Sofitel
• Swissôtel

While, UK based IHG hosts brands such as

• Candlewood
• Crowne Plaza
• Holiday Inn
• Hotel Indigo
• Hualuxe
• InterContinental
• Kimpton
• Regent
• Six Senses
• Voco

World’s largest hotel group

If these two behemoths were to merge, they would become the worlds largest hotel group, with a combined 1.6 million rooms under management. The current largest hotel group, Marriot only has 1.4 million rooms.

The two groups have geographically different dominance, with IHG being strong in the USA, and Accor being strong in Europe.

Both groups run multiple brands, in fact combined they would commandeer over 50 disparate brands.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

Current reports indicate that this is a thought bubble at the executive end of Accor, and there is no indication that there are actually talks between the two groups yet.

Hotels, as well as Airlines and Airports have been hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Maybe a merger and the synergies that could be gained would be one way to help this industry survive. A combined loyalty program would be epic – even if not the most attractive in terms earned points or redemptions.

I have been an IHG Ambassador member for the last 5 or so years, and appreciated the benefits this gave me until recently when the diminishing benefits have become woefull.