Accor has unveiled ALL Concierge, an artificial intelligence
(AI) travel companion embedded in its app and website and available on iMessage
and WhatsApp.
The initiative enables guests to connect with the company
and property across various elements of the journey, including planning and booking
hotels, checking loyalty status, updating stays, exploring what’s around locally
and asking questions during the stay. Users can also get in touch with a human
at any point.
The launch of ALL Concierge, which is available in 11
languages, follows a pilot where Accor studied more than a million guest
interactions.
The pilot revealed that between 30% and 40% of conversations were related to making a booking, with higher conversion rates and bigger basket sizes.
Alix Boulnois, chief commercial, digital and technology officer
of Accor, said the development was about making sure the company “captures the
growing willingness that customers have to interact with us differently.”
She cited a figure from Google revealing 60% of guests are
using AI to search for their trips, which is double that of a year ago.
“It goes from people who are just looking for inspiration to
people who are really doing the end-to-end trip planning, using AI, using LLMs,
using agents. This number is only going to grow.”
Going forward, ALL Concierge will provide more contextual assistance
based on the section of the platform the user is visiting and the ability to
compare hotels on a map, including AI-synthesized customer reviews. It will also offer
partnership recommendations.
Additional functionality in the pipeline includes
personalized activities and events, post-booking support and voice
capabilities.
Boulnois reiterated the company’s strategic bets on
tackling AI during a press conference announcing the launch. The pillars
include ensuring visibility on AI platforms, distribution and loyalty
“With the emergence of AI, we’re going to move from push
marketing, where brands are pushing messages and campaigns, to marketing where
guests are going to express themselves on behalf of the brand, through reviews,
through all sorts of platforms. And LLMs are going to leverage use and capture
those to showcase the brands that are the most relevant.”
On distribution, she said people are going to have personal
agents on various devices for trip planning, shopping, health
and social connections. Accor wants to be “part of the equation.”
“That means that we need to be integrated with these
platforms that are going to be in the pocket of customers of tomorrow.”
Boulnois said it’s hard to predict whether consumers would
want separate apps or assistants for booking travel versus a single assistant,
such as Meta’s Muse, to help with their lives.
“I think it will be a mix of both. It will differ by patterns,
by culture, by age. Repeat corporate customers or repeat traveler maybe will
have a higher propensity for an assistant that is tailored for travel. Someone
that does less traveling may rely more on an assistant that does multiple
things.”
Nicolas Maynard, Accor’s SVP of data and AI, said the company
will assess opportunities to connect its concierge to other agents.
Boulnois also commented on how loyalty is going to change
and move away from transactional programs.
“Our belief at the core is that AI is going to enable us to
do something more productive, more personalized and more emotional. Customer A
and customer B might not have the same benefits in the future. We will be able
to better detect the preferences, aspirations ... that
people want, so we can encourage them and reward them ahead of the stay.”
Accor has simultaneously unveiled The Butler, an AI tool for
hotel teams. The service provides access to information, advice and
recommendations to help “navigate everyday situations,” the company said.
Earlier this year, Accor unveiled an app on ChatGPT, which Boulnois said had boosted the company's visibility and driven traffic for brands.