Welcoming, protecting and taking care of others is the very DNA of Accor. The health, safety and well-being of our employees, customers, and partners is our over-riding priority. As a leading hospitality group, Accor anticipates new expectations of travelers and meets their needs to the highest possible standards of health and safety.
Against this backdrop, Accor aims to reassure its stakeholders: employees, customers and partners, on its ability to welcome them in the best conditions possible. In doing so, Accor worked closely with Bureau Veritas, the global leader for testing, inspection and certification, to create new industry standards with the launch of the ALLSAFE label, currently being rolled out to all Group hotels.
This project, carried out with doctors and epidemiologists, was designed in close co-operation with Accor hotel owners, industry representatives and has been shared with the French Tourism Alliance and the French ministries for Tourism, Health and Labor to validate the standards recommended.
This approach has led to the drafting of operating guidelines for all those involved in the sector to enable them to ensure strict compliance with the different recommendations of the relevant health authorities (WTO, French ministry of health, etc.) for accommodation, general and restaurant services.
Before reserving a stay, European customers can consult a dedicated website listing the establishments that have obtained the Bureau Veritas certification. The label certifies that the cleanliness, safety and prevention measures implemented by the Group’s hotels are in line with the health protocols that the current crisis has revealed to be essential.
With this label, Accor now meets society’s new and upgraded expectations in terms of health and safety. By defining health and safety standards applicable to all Group hotels as well as to other chains and independent hotels, the ALLSAFE label contributes to the restart of the whole sector, for both hotels and restaurants.
Accor today announced its continued action to lead the hospitality industry with the most stringent cleaning standards and operational procedures concentrated on guest safety. Following operational disruptions stemming from COVID-19, Accor has successfully reopened most of its hotels with 95% of them having already adopted the Group’s trusted ALLSAFE cleanliness and hygiene protocols jointly developed with Bureau Veritas. To date, Accor has successfully certified 65% of these hotels with the ALLSAFE label through a third-party review and accreditation process with professional auditors like Bureau Veritas, SGS, Clifton and Ecolab, and is working to have additional hotels independently verified as ALLSAFE compliant over the coming months.
“At Accor, we are grateful for the trust our guests have placed in us to protect their health, safety and wellbeing and this is a responsibility we prioritize above all else,” said Chris Cahill, Deputy CEO Hotel Operations. “Throughout this difficult year, our hotel teams have risen to the challenge of enhancing their already stringent protocols and following increased public safety regulations while continuing to welcome, safeguard and take care of others; this remains at the very heart of what we do and who we are as hoteliers.”
Proprietary research undertaken by Accor over June/July 2020 indicates that a hotel getaway ranks among the top three activities that Accor guests feel ready to do over the coming months, in addition to going to a beach and visiting friends and family at home. While consumer spending intentions in the travel sector remain low compared to pre-pandemic levels, 75% of consumers say they would feel comfortable staying in a hotel where they can rely on high-standards of cleanliness and professional staff.
The ALLSAFE label was established by Accor to give guests the assurance of a third-party verified standard of hotel cleanliness and hygienic requirements. These standards were developed with and vetted by Bureau Veritas, a world leader in operational testing, inspections and certifications. Travelers can look for the ALLSAFE logo on the webpage of the Accor hotel they are booking, knowing they can trust its protocols to meet or exceed the ALLSAFE standard and visit the hotel with confidence.
To achieve the ALLSAFE certification, hotels must comply with a detailed list of 16 global commitments jointly developed with Bureau Veritas, which translates into more than 100 standards in total. Some of these enhanced health and prevention protocols include a reinforced cleaning program with frequent disinfection of all high-touch areas such as elevators and public restrooms; deep cleaning of guestrooms with hospital-grade cleaning products and materials, including upholstery, carpets and bedding cleaning at high temperatures.
Additional measures require Accor’s ALLSAFE hotels to employ appropriate seating and spacing restrictions in restaurants, bars and public areas; guest temperature screening in accordance with local requirements; disinfectant mats at hotel entrances; contactless payment solutions and desk-free check-ins and check-outs, wherever possible.
Accor has also taken the unique step of establishing a complimentary medical support service available to all of its guests. Through a worldwide partnership with AXA, a global leader in insurance, Accor guests who fall ill or who are in urgent need of medical support, will receive free access to top-of-the-line medical teleconsultations.
Since July 2020, this partnership enables Accor guests to benefit from the highest level of care thanks to the expert medical solutions of AXA Partners, AXA’s international entity specialized in assistance services, travel insurance and credit protection.
Accor guests benefit from AXA’s most recent advances in telemedicine through free access to medical teleconsultations. Guests also get access to AXA’s extensive medical networks with tens of thousands of vetted medical professionals. This will allow hotels to make the most relevant referrals (e.g. language, speciality, etc.) to their guests in the 110 destinations and the 5,000 Accor hotels worlwide where Accor is present.
As Accor prepares for the post COVID-19 rebound, this unique medical service complements its overall global recovery plan and is included in the enhanced health and prevention protocols that Accor has put in place notably through its ALLSAFE Cleanliness label in anticipation of the progressive reopening of its hotels across the different regions.
For AXA, this partnership is a unique occasion to strengthen its payer to partner strategy, which aims to provide innovative services to its customers, notably in health, one of its areas of growth in its Ambition 2020 plan.
“Welcoming, safeguarding and taking care of others is at the very heart of what we do and who we are as hoteliers. This distinctive partnership with AXA which we have been working on for several months makes even more sense in today’s context. In an increasingly complex environment, our 300,000 team members on the ground will be able to assist our guests and ensure their safety during their stays, turning our hotels into shelters. This initiative combined with our ALLSAFE enhanced hygiene protocols, will be key to rediscover the Love of Travel in the 5,000 Accor properties around the world,” said Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor.
“AXA’s ambition is to move from a payer to a partner with its customers, notably by providing them with innovative solutions in health. This is why AXA has become over the last year a world leader in telemedicine solutions. Partnering with Accor, a worldwide leader in hospitality, is a unique opportunity to enlarge people’s access to our healthcare expertise and solutions. As we are facing an unprecedented health crisis with Covid-19, this ambition has never been more relevant,” said Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA.
