Interview of Rémi Lefèvre, Strategic Digital Marketing & Commercial Marketing in the Travel Industry – Intercontinental
How do you select the architects who will go on to design your hotels? Who are they? How do they embody the spirit of your brand?
Each project undergoes a clearly outlined process of approval.
Although there are a considerable number of well-known architects in the industry with proven experience in hotels, we rely largely on our own dedicated internal team of architects.
They follow each project from start to finish to oversee each step, from the design stage to the opening and ongoing maintenance, in order to ensure a true continuity in the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts experience.
The interior designer is just as much an essential element, and each designer must not only provide detailed references, but also submit to us a proposal for a design based on a highly elaborate briefing that has been carefully prepared by our design and development teams.
The concept of a ‘tailored hotel’ is a particularly dear one to boutique hotels. What is your view on Haute Couture in hotels? How do you integrate this concept in your hotels? Is art a vector of this notion?
At the core of our “Report on Trends in 2014,” we revealed the importance of three major trends that influence travelers, who are, in fact, increasingly in search of a ‘three-dimensional’ approach on the part of hotel chains. It’s all about being able to demonstrate a perfect harmony between the global, local, AND personal dimensions.
Of these three trends, the one that is perhaps most discernible is that of personalization, particularly for those travelers hailing from emerging countries.
As a result, 78% of Russian travelers and 64% of Chinese expect their hotels to offer them an experience tailored to their personal needs, an expectation expressed by only 43% of Americans and 42% of Brits.
Therefore, we’ve talked about our service and concierge staff, who are the spearheads of our response to this trend, but the architecture and design of our hotels are equally powerful. A hotel that possesses a soul already inherently offers a local and personal experience, which our experience of over 65 years in the hotel industry around the world will render, as a result, international.
About Rémi Lefèvre:
A specialist in brand and corporate identity management, Rémi Lefèvre joined IHG in late 2011 to take the reins over the social media strategy of the high-end brand images of two giants in the hotel industry—InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts and Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, each pioneers in this field.
Following this, he assumed leadership over the marketing departments in France, Switzerland, and Turkey to oversee the full line of details in the communication on these markets, which account for close to 90 IHG Hotels, notably the brand’s iconic hotels including the InterContinental Marseille and the upcoming Hotel Indigo Paris-Opera.
Laurent Delporte, an editor and conference speaker, is a strategic expert in the sector of hotels. A visionary, he brings his unique look on hotels in service to the decision-makers in the industry, whether to enhance the development of new projects or strategic visions.
Laurent has visited and audited over 350 hotels across the world and also participates in mystery visits to provide quality control for the world’s finest hotels.