Storyboard18 | French hospitality chain Accor's CEO says missing the India opputunity would be a 'stupid mistake'

Accor is bullish on India and plans to open many more hotels in the country over the next few years, Sebastien Bazin, Group Chairman and CEO of the French multinational hospitality chain and hotel chain said.


Storyboard18’s Shibani Gharat caught up with him and discussed about the reason behind the company's excitement about the Indian middle class traveller, its plans around Paris Olympics, efforts towards sustainability and more.

“I am a huge India fan for a lot of good reasons. I hate to be a spectator of India, I want to be an actor in India. India for us is small, 2% of Accor worldwide,” he said.

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He highlighted that Accor India grew fastest in the last five years and is likely to grow even faster over the next five years. “So for me to miss India would be a stupid mistake.”

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Talking about Accor b eing Paris Olympics’ major sponsor, Bazin said, “We cannot fail. We are going to be in the eyes of the entire world and we just have to welcome the people and make sure they remember what they see in Paris and give them the chance to come back.”

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Separately, PNB MetLife has launched its new campaign featuring cricketer Smriti Mandhana as the ambassador.

Storyboard18 spoke to Sourabh Lohtia, Head of Marketing, PNB MetLife about the campaign that speaks about the role of trust while choosing a life insurance policy. “We looked at the research and we looked at what consumers are saying. It came out very clearly – 47% of respondents named trust as the number one factor for life insurance company.”

For more, watch the accompanying video