Accor Pioneers Innovative Franchisee Diversity Program

Assigns Corporate Mentors to Work for Years in Franchisees' Hotels to Boost Minorities and Women Franchise Successes

CARROLLTON, Tex. (Blue MauMau) - Last week at the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers (NABHOOD) Summit, Accor North America unveiled one of franchising's most innovative diversity programs.

Dean Savas, Accor's senior vice president of franchise, commented to Blue MauMau on what makes the Pinnacle Program innovative. "Should a minority candidate so choose, we would loan one of our managers from one to five years. And the infrastructure we have in place can assist them in getting their property started, especially if they are new to the hospitality industry."

Accor claims that it has developed ties with lending institutions to help minorities and women gain funding. It developed these ties out of necessity.

"We found early on when we started our diversity program that we had a lot of minorities interested. However, when it came to the point of getting financing, the lending institutions were not comfortable lending to first-time entrepreneurs that had no hospitality experience. But lenders had a higher confidence knowing that someone who was an established operator [like Accor's management] was assisting [full time] in the first years in the operation of the property."

"No one else does that," proudly declares Janice Maragakis, Vice President of Corporate Communication at Accor North America.

Active Recruiting of New Diverse Groups

In regard to how the hotel chain group networks to reach minorities, Ms. Maragakis adds, "We attend specific events, such as for NABHOOD, to recruit minority and women franchisees. At these events there are many individuals who are looking for a partner to help train them and bring them up to speed."

Although Asian Americans in the group's Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands make up almost 60% of franchisees, that's not diverse enough for Accor. The other minority groups within the hospitality industry are quite small. Accor feels that a wider, more diverse group of franchise owners will fuel growth, build a stronger network and create a lasting competitive advantage.

Savas continues, "In most cases, the franchise buyers [typically Asian American or Caucasian] that come to us are already established in hospitality and know what they want. But historically, many from the African American, Hispanic or American Indian community have not looked at the industry and therefore they do not have the background or expertise. To get into the industry, the biggest hurdle to getting financed is how to get expertise. Accor will share expertise so that the lender knows that contractually the property will be in accordance with how we would operate our own property."

Tender Loving Care

Of Accor's ability to give special care to its minority recruits no matter where they are, Savas notes that "We have [corporate] management in place throughout the United States."

The company encourages recruits of the Pinnacle program to work in corporate properties before the opening of their own property. Among the first things on the list is providing expertise in site selection, architectural design, construction, and the pre-opening phase.

Says Savas, "The way the Asian American community started was through independent and economy lodging and then moving to mid-scale and upper-scale luxury properties. What we are saying to NABHOOD is that economy lodging is a good starting place if you want to get into the hospitality industry and our Pinnacle Program provides a good opportunity to grow your wealth."

Accor’s initiatives have a lot of hospitality insiders watching.

Mr. C.K. Patel, Treasurer of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), observes, “Accor seems to be coming up with the right initiatives to get investors to invest in the brand.”

It isn’t the first time Accor has been innovative. Patel continues, “They were also among the first to adopt AAHOA’s 12 points of fair franchising that helped franchisees, and thus franchisors, better succeed.”