Skift Take
Fairmont is a luxury brand that has been underperforming its potential in its development pipeline. Can a new CEO and management team with a new strategy improve things?
For a brand around since 1907, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has suddenly had a lot of activity. In January, parent company Accor installed new Fairmont CEO Mark Willis, who has been leading a rethink of the brand's strategy. Some of the details about strategy changes will be revealed later this month at a conference with the general managers at the brand's 86 hotels.
The Fairmont changes are part of a broader reorganization at Accor, giving each of its luxury and lifestyle brands dedicated full-time management.
"We’ve realized that managing them by geography doesn’t work," Jean-Jacques Morin, Accor’s group deputy CEO, said last month at the Skift Future of Lodging Forum in London. Morin said the new model is based on how luxury behemoth LVMH lets each of its brands run semi-independent fiefdoms, or maisons.
The new Fairmont CEO said he already sees a shift.
"We've been very surprised how the market has taken that [October reorganization] announcement from the perspective of the real-estate owner who has a current asset and is looking for an operator," Willis said. "If you're active in the field [of branded hotel development], it's not often that you get surprised. But I've got to say, we've had a lot of people reach out to us interested in becoming acquainted with Fairmont."
Fairmont already has a strong pipelin