Accor launches new loyalty scheme for agents with rewards and sales tools
Accor has introduced a new loyalty programme for agents, as part of the company’s long term strategy to engage the trade with its luxury and lifestyle properties.
The French hospitality giant said it has rolled out Hera as a way of offering exclusive tools for agents selling its premium brands.
Hera rewards advisors with redeemable points for every room night they book in one of the 11 participating brands. With these points, they can either use them for a complimentary stay in certain Accor hotels, or purchase goods of their choice in a ‘dedicated online mall’, said to include ‘the best-known brands in the world, from beauty, apparel to electronics and household goods’.
The digital platform also provides a number of sales tools for agents, including access to a Hera specialist, a database of information on all the participating hotels, and ongoing training on each property.
The booking system has also been streamlined to optimise efficiency and customisation of reservations.
Hera will be an upgrade on Accor’s former programme for advisors, Famous Agents, offering enhanced fact sheets and direct contact details for its on-site specialists at the hotels.
All travel advisor data, history and reward points will also be migrated ‘seamlessly’ to the new platform, Pascal Visintainer, Accor’s senior vice president of global sales, luxury and lifestyle, told TTG Luxury.
Which Accor brands are participating?
There are 11 Accor and Ennismore luxury and lifestyle brands participating in Hera, giving agents access to more than 270 hotels and resorts across the world. These companies include, but are not limited to, the following: Banyan Tree, Delano, Faena, Fairmont, Orient Express, Raffles, Sofitel and SLS.
“Until today, we had taken the decision that we would enrol a brand if all the hotels of that brand are part of the programme,” Visintainer explained. “This was to make it simple for the travel advisor and to be sure that they don’t have to ask the question, ‘Oh, how does it work’?”
This policy may be changed in the next six months, however, following recent discussions with Accor’s luxury and lifestyle advisory board. “A member of the advisory board told us recently that, at the end of the year, we will be able to enrol a brand even if not all the hotels in that brand are participating,” Visintainer added.
What are the plans for Hera?
For now, Hera is still in its early stages, and Visintainer is regularly engaging with Accor’s luxury and lifestyle brands to gain feedback and improve the programme.
As for his vision for the website, he said he hoped it will soon become an invaluable resource in every luxury travel agent’s toolkit.
“My dream is that every morning, when the travel advisor opens their computer, they log into the hera.accor.com website, and when they have a request for a destination, whether it is Paris, London, New York, or Kenya, they can immediately search Hera to see which Accor properties are in that destination,” Visintainer said.
“They will have all the information they need to design the experience for the client, and then we’ll make the booking online and have a personalised confirmation, automatically issued by the system, with their logo and their contact details, so that they are able to sell it directly to the client,” he suggested.
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