The luxury hotel market | France

1.1 Definition and presentation

Luxury hotels are a form of accommodation with exclusive, personalized and unique services, where the customer is the focus and the experience must be impeccable. Hotels in this market are 5 star hotels or more. On a global level, luxury hotels are often chains. Among the largest are:

• Westin Hotels & Resorts
• St Regis Hotels & Resorts
• Leading Hotels of the World
• Waldorf Astoria
• Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

In France, luxury establishments welcome a quarter of foreign tourists each year, and the majority of them are part of large hotel chains. Moreover, the number of visitors to independent hotels is lower than that of chain hotels.

Luxury hotels in France are found in remarkable sites, urban areas and winter sports resorts. Four- and five-star hotels account for 9% of the total number of hotels in the provinces and 11% in mainland France. Five-star hotels account for 3% of regional capacity in the provinces and are smaller: they have an average of 56 rooms per establishment in the provinces and 68 in metropolitan France. Luxury hotel capacity represents 21% of the total in metropolitan France and 17% in the provinces.

The technological environment has a significant impact on the luxury hotel sector, which must evolve with technological progress by building more direct relationships with its customers via social networks. So the evolution of technology is very important for this market.