BEIJING - Accor has signed “a strategic collaboration” to leverage Alibaba's nearly 700 million consumers across its China retail marketplaces.
Under the pact, Alibaba's travel arm Fliggy will allow consumers to book hotels, access catering services, book entertainment and take advantage of other lifestyle services.
Payments can be made using Alipay, a digital payment service operated by Alibaba affiliate, Ant Financial.
Angel Zhao, president of Fliggy and senior vice president of Alibaba Group, said, “By working with Accor, we will also be able to introduce a younger generation of consumers to the established Accor portfolio of hotels and lifestyle offerings.”
Accor will offer Chinese consumers a hassle-free hotel experience through its Haoke welcome programme that ensures Accor's hotels are ready to welcome Chinese guests by incorporating Chinese-language, Chinese dishes on menus, Chinese-speaking staff, and other services and payment systems that meet the needs of Chinese travellers.
Alibaba will make Accor's soon-to-be-launched lifestyle loyalty programme, ALL - Accor Live Limitless, available to its consumer base.
Sebastien Bazin, Accor's chairman and CEO, said, “China's importance to the world's tourism industry and this key collaboration with Alibaba will symbolically strengthen economic ties between China and France, while giving Chinese travellers access to exciting events and benefits through ALL – Accor Live Limitless.”