Hotel & Tourism
SMARTreport #30
2016 Summer Edition
9
WE BELIEVE
FIRMLY AND
TRULY IN
THE ADDED
VALUE OF
TRAVEL
AGENTS.
experiences is truly at the heart of a stay in
a Relais & Châteaux hotel. Let me give the
example of one of our properties in Japan.
The Asaba has been in the same family for
500 years. You can imagine the pressure
on the innkeeper and his family who
represent countless generations of owners
and people dedicated to the clients. These
people cannot fail in welcoming the guests.
They are creating a full experience around
the property that is really worth seeing,
and this is what we try to provide in all
our Relais & Châteaux. There’s not always
a 500-year history, but it’s something that
is special that you feel either through the
location or through the people working at
the property.
Relais & Châteaux’s major thrust –
above all else at the moment, appears
to be that of helping in making the
world a better place. How is this
philosophy being implemented?
Absolutely, this philosophy of making the
world a better place through hospitality
and cuisine was first presented at the
UNESCO meeting in Paris at 2014. This
new vision is not a target we are trying to
invent for our properties; this is something
we are already doing, which is why we
are very comfortable in making this vision
“official”, because we can prove that our
properties are working towards it.
What’s new this year in terms of
marketing campaigns and/or concepts?
Following the launch of the vision in 2014
in Paris, we have been reworking our
brand identity. We have written a new
ambition, we have written new values, and
in the following months we will develop
a new identity with new signatures. What
I can share with you is some detail about
our new identity, as well as our new values.
They are of course in line with our former
ambitions and values, but we would like to
express them in a more modern way and
engaged way. Our ambition is to be more
than a simple “label”, or association of
members. We are fighting for the ethic of
sharing the art of living – the savoir-faire –
and the protection of cultures and cuisine
everywhere in the world. In addition to our
campaign for the “tastes of the world”,
we are focusing on “humanism”. We
would like to show that our properties
are respecting the people and the cultures
everywhere in the world. So the word
“humanism” is very important to us. The
third value we want to underline is that of
sharing. We share the family spirit and also
want to share our passion, sharing with
the team, and sharing with the clients.
The fourth value I would like to point
out, which is very important and strong,
is engagement, or commitment. Relais
& Châteaux aims to bring richness and
added-value to the history of hospitality
everywhere in the world. These are the
new values that we are implementing
across our network.
How important is your relationship
with tour operators and travel agents?
It’s a very important and valuable
relationship. The more upper scale the
client is, the more he or she relies on travel
agents. We believe firmly and truly in the
added value of travel agents. Around 30%
of our sales are made through TAs and
TOs. But if we focus on the R&C channels
– driving business under the brand – it’s
more than 50%. Around the globe, we
have 12 people whose sole job is to visit
the travel agents and explain the values
and experiences of the brands. We are
providing special services to the travel
agents, such as concierge, itineraries, and
soon – in the next months – special access
to a dedicated section of our website
where they will find specific information
important to them, and we have also
developed preferred partner programmes
that enable the travel agents to have some
special advantages or conditions, like VIP
welcome or free breakfast.
Asaba, Boutique Hotel
in Izu-shi village,
Shizuoka-Ken, Japan
