But with the crisis this ultimate break comfort was reduced as shrinking

One of the last refuges of the business traveller was often his night's rest in hotel. But with the crisis, this ultimate break comfort was reduced as shrinking. Officials travel business tablet hotels like other expenses: unnecessary nights hunting was engaged and, most often, the category of hotel admitted by hierarchical level in a "policy travel" slipped down a star. "We very clearly felt that the four-stars were more affected than the three by the instructions of companies to find cheaper accommodation or down in line," confirms Bernadette Chevallier, President of Exclusive Hotels, a voluntary network that brings together a hundred institutions in Paris. She said that the decline in income since the beginning of the year reached 15 to 20 in four-stars and 10 in the three.

At Accor, are also the top signs and midrange (Sofitel, Novotel, Pulmann) which were most affected. "Throughout the suites have been deserted, as the front of the aircraft", said Philippe Gauguier, partner in charge of hospitality in Deloitte Council.

The criterion of price

"Each crisis, it is the same scenario", analyzes Marc Watkins of the Coach Omnium cabinet: "the demotion of a class on average, a negotiation to death rates and, for the image, to avoid the bling-bling."According to Philippe Gauguier, this concern has been visible with a disappearance of the incentives, "providing yet a strong contribution to hotels because they consume a lot of services", and a net reduction of meetings and seminars, which have dragged, as individual travellers, to less star-shaped hotels. For individual business travellers, according to a survey conducted in June by Coach Omnium, price became a first choice test (70 versus 26 in 2005), about as important as the location of the establishment.

Georges Panayotis, specialized Cabinet MKG, believes that the institutions from 0 to 2 stars have little or no suffered in France, but that the fall in revenue per room was clear in the trois-étoiles and strong in the four-stars (table below). France, he says, the hotels are filled to 60 by business travellers and companies spending cuts have affected them head-on.

"No tsunami".

"The reaction of the hotels was classical, adds Georges Panayotis, when occupancy rates fell too, hoteliers have led an aggressive pricing policy to catch up with their occupancy rates and keep their customers."Philippe Gauguier adds that some hotels are passed under the fork admit defeat of e-commerce, sometimes granting of 20 to 35 commission. "The setbacks to the average prices, said, were sensitive at the top of range while one and two-stars have been able to increase their prices in some cities.In fact, the crisis of hotels, from two good years, has been much less brutal than previous crises. For Philippe Gauguier, "French hoteliers have acquired a real capacity to defend their average prices, which gives them an ability to restart quickly.Thus, in Sofitel, it preferred packages (one night offered for three consumed, for example) "instead of entering a spiral of price to tumble.

One of the reasons for their resistance is that capacity have little progress in recent years, while development galloping strings at the end of the 1980s caused a fall in prices in the early 1990's, much stronger.Rooms 4 stars and more are increased from 8 to 14 of the French Park in 15 years, according to Philippe Gauguier, but this category is open to many new international markets. "There was no tsunami in French hotels, also because the offer of zero to two-star (70 of the rooms) is more resistant and more France than in other countries", said Georges Panayotis.