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AccorHotels To Acquire John Paul, World Leader In The Concierge Market

Aspire Executive Lounges, Swissport's global airport hospitality brand, has joined the British Institute of Hospitality, the world’s leading and award-winning membership body for hospitality professionals. Aspire Executive Lounges becomes the first business partner from the airport lounge hospitality sector to join the Institute of Hospitality. Aspire Executive Lounges, the fast-growing Swiss brand in the airport hospitality business, has joined the British Institute of Hospitality (IoH), the world’s leading membership body for professionals working and studying in the hospitality leisure and tourism industry. Aspire Executive Lounges is the first business from the airport lounge sector to become a member of IoH. The collaboration will foster an exchange of expertise and insights: IoH will benefit from Aspire's expertise in airport hospitality, while Aspire, by sharing its wealth of experience with IoH members, can extend its professional network to the hotel and catering sectors and hospitality management schools. “Our vision for Aspire Executive Lounges is clear and simple: We want to deliver a guest experience that is similar to what our guests are used to from their preferred hotels, meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of today’s travelers,” says David Collyer, Global Vice President of Executive Lounges at Swissport International AG. “We strive to deliver an unparalleled experience and set a benchmark that transcends our industry, redefining excellence across the hospitality sector. The Institute of Hospitality is a great network to exchange insights and experiences, and to learn from others in the hospitality sector, which will help us bring our vision to life.” Robert Richardson, CEO of the Institute of Hospitality: “Our aspiration at the Institute of Hospitality has been to develop and grow our membership, the number of countries we operate in, and the number of hospitality sectors represented within our organization. With that in mind, it is a natural partnership for us to welcome Aspire into our family, and to learn from their teams, who serve travelers with passion and dedication. As two organizations with similar values, we look forward to collaborating in promoting high levels of excellence within our profession.” With over 30 years of experience, Aspire Executive Lounges is Europe’s largest brand in the airport lounges sector. In 2023, Swissport welcomed more than five million customers worldwide at over 69 lounges in 20 countries. The airport hospitality brand recently opened new lounges at Toronto City Airport in Canada, and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Finland. Aspire Executive Lounges recently created a new lounge concept in partnership with the airline alliance oneworld. The first oneworld branded lounge was launched at Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea, in December 2023. Aspire Executive Lounges is owned by Swissport International AG, the global leader in aviation services, serving airlines at 286 airports in 44 countries across 6 continents
Written by Amy

AccorHotels announces today (Wednesday 27 July) it has begun exclusive negotiations for the acquisition of John Paul, the leading player in premium customer and employee loyalty services. The company’s Enterprise Value should be close to 150 million dollars i.e. a 2017e EV/EBITDA multiple of c. 11X. Accorhotels should acquire about 80% of John Paul, the remaining stake being kept by David Amsellem, the founder of the company, who will remain as CEO.

After Wipolo, Oasis Collections, SquareBreak and onefinestay, the acquisition of John Paul, world leader in the customer loyalty and concierge markets marks a major new step in transforming AccorHotels into a travel companion providing innovative services to travelers at every step of their journey.

Founded in Paris in 2007, John Paul merged with LesConcierges in 2015, creating the world leader in loyalty services with a combined workforce of 1,000 highly skilled and trained people, across all five continents. The team works as a partner to the world’s leading brands and a bespoke concierge available around the clock, 7 days a week, anywhere in the world, to meet their customers’ request from the simplest to the most complex.

The first technology enabled concierge, equipped with a proprietary Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and data platform based on a behavioral profiling and a 360°personalization, as well as a network of over 50,000 partners in more than 50 countries, the company offers the most exhaustive and global loyalty solutions to prestigious brands in the financial, automotive, travel, consumer, healthcare, pharma, luxury industries and more.

With a superior technology supporting its premium service culture, and sound profitability, John Paul has become the acknowledged expert to assist its clients from designing their offer to implementing their customized loyalty programs, which comprises a full service offer with content and cross-channel marketing.

Sebastien Bazin, Chairman & CEO of AccorHotels explained: “The acquisition of John Paul enables us to accelerate our global strategy to position the customer experience at the very heart of our initiatives. Their expertise in customization combined with a wide range of services and cutting-edge technology, gives us the opportunity to boost the value of the relationships with our guests and partners and multiply the number of touch points. It means a further solidification of our customer relation through an attractive offer and a higher usage, an increased personalization of our services thanks to a deeper customer profiling with non-hotel driven information, and the strengthening of our CRM with affinity data. Through this partnership with the world leader in the growing concierge market, AccorHotels positions itself as the best provider of multi-nature services to guests, supporting the whole customer journey, from non-hotel offers to 24/07 assistance through an integrated and innovative solution, like a “Travel Companion.”
David Amsellem, CEO of Paul John declared: “From inception, I founded John Paul deeply rooted with a passion for service and hospitality. My vision is that we can enhance the lives of millions of guests by delivering the highest personalized service. Over the past few years, John Paul has made a huge growth across industries. Now that we are the worldwide leader in premium loyalty solutions, we feel that we are at a tipping point in our venture and we need the empowerment of a strong leader to support the current traction. Entering the travel industry supported by AccorHotels means much more to the 1,000 people of the John Paul Group: we feel that combining our strengths will create a game changer in the industry.”

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Amy