The industry of hospitality is considered to be one of the largest industries worldwide [1]. The hospitality industry is a broad group of businesses that provide services to customers. Hospitality is one of the oldest professions and is regarded as a powerful economic activity that touches many aspects of human life. The hospitality industry has three primary areas; the first area is accommodations, which includes hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and other lodging businesses. The next area is food and beverage. This area comprises restaurants, fast food chains, and other establishments that provide food and beverages. According to Nykiel [2], definitions of the hospitality industry are often limited by the unique viewpoints of sectors within the industry. For example, a hotel operator may see the industry as accommodations with food and beverages.

The hospitality sector makes a major contribution to the European economy, also is one of the most vigorous sectors of the Polish economy. Tourism is one of the fastest developing industries in the Polish economy. Statistics shows it grows continuously when it comes to the number of tourists and the turnover. This sector in Europe is an important contributor to the European economy, through its impact on employment, growth and tax contributions. Hospitality is one of the most important gateways to the labour market, which is crucial in the current times of high unemployment, especially amongst young people in Europe. The sector supports around 16.6 m jobs, representing 7.8% of the European workforce or one in every 13 jobs in Europe.

The hotel industry is one of the largest, as well as most dynamic industries today, which constantly continues to grow. The industry has changed significantly over the past decades, it has managed to maintain and keep adapting to the changing social, business and economic environments. Nowadays, hotel industry is one of the biggest and most competitive industries in the world. The current context marked by globalization and the increasing recognition of interrelations has imposed new rules of conduct as the prosperity of nations is based on competitiveness on international markets, and that of enterprises, on the integration in the worldwide value chains. Defining competitiveness has preoccupied both renowned names in economic thought as well as scientific centers and associations.

Hotel industry is one of the most vigorous sectors of the Polish economy. One of the most important factors influencing the achievement of this growth is the development of tourism infrastructure facilities, especially the lodging base. A hotel is a categorized facility which meets the requirements of a hotel facility specified in the appropriate regulation of the Council of Ministers. Other facilities are categorized as other accommodation facilities. This division, also referred to as traditional classification, differentiates five different types of hotels, namely – (1) one-star, (2) two-star, (3) three-star, (4) fourstar and (5) five-star hotels [3].

The number of hotels in Poland grows rapidly every year. Following major reforms in 1992, Poland experienced a boom in economic activity in the 1990. Hotel market in Poland is in a stage of rapid growth which is reflected by the increasing number of new hotels, growing number of tourists, as well as the growing interest in the Polish market from the international hotel brands.

In 1990 in Poland were 499 hotels. According to Central Statistical Office data, the number of categorized hotels in Poland in 2016 exceeds 2,400, providing 255,123 beds in around 128,304 rooms and its growing year-to-year (Figure 1). Power trend line suggests that number of hotels in Poland will grow at the next years.

Figure 1: Number of hotel establishments in Poland in 1990-2016.

The key drivers for the development of hotel business in Poland are [4-10]:

• economic growth,

• rising popularity of Poland as a holiday destination,

• development of medical tourism in Poland,

• dynamic growth of BPO/SSC sector

• rising popularity of domestic trip

• growth of expenditures of Polish residents for trips.

According to Central Statistical Office data, the number of bed place in hotels in 2016 exceeds 253,3 thousand and is growing yearto- year too (Figure 2). Power trend line suggests that number of bed places in hotels in Poland also will grow at the next years.

Figure 2: Number of bed places in hotels in Poland in thousands in 1990-2016.

The sector has benefited from the process of globalization and from the constantly falling relative costs of travel. Number of tourists accommodated in hotels in research period is growing year-to-year (Figure 3). In 1990 the travel industry recorded 3919,6 thousand tourists accommodated in hotels while there were 6386,9 thousand in 2000, 19615,4 thousand in 2016. The results of the survey of the occupancy of tourist accommodation establishments in 2016 show that accommodation facilities hosted 28.9 million tourists (76.8 million overnight stays, of which 15.0 million stays – by foreign tourists). Foreign tourists arrivals increased – to 6.1 million, compared to 5.7 million in 2015. Majority of tourists (21.7 million) stayed in hotels and similar establishments i.e. in hotels, motels, boarding houses and similar, while only 7.2 million tourists stayed in other establishments – excursion hostels, shelters, camping sites, etc. More than a half of all tourists were accommodated in hotels – 18.8 million (increase from 17.5 million in 2015) [10].

Figure 3: Tourists accommodated in hotels in thousand in Poland in 1990-2016.

Over the past five years, it has become evident that the 3-star segment, with a total of 1166 hotels and a market share of 51% in 2016, represents the majority of the hotel market supply. In second place considering the number of hotels are 2* facilities (24% market share), in third place are 4* hotels prevail (15% market share) (Figure 4). According to Central Statistical Office data, the number of three stars hotels in 2016 exceeded 1166 and grow by 250% compared to year 2000. The largest increase in 2016 compared to 2000 was recorded in the number of five-star and four-star hotels. It was an increase of 916% and 772%. Data in figure 4 show the upper midrange segments continue to grow, while 1-star establishments recorded ongoing declines. The supply is well balanced between star categories with about 44% of hotel rooms in the 3- and 29% in 4-star segment respectively. Currently, about 4,600 hotel rooms are under construction or being planned, with a focus on the 4-star segment. The Polish hotel market has been one of the stars of Europe recently and there is no doubt that it has good prospects for the future.

Figure 4: Number of formally categorised hotels in Poland in 2000-2016.

However, only 13% of the categorized hotels in Poland are chain hotels compared to the average level of 30% in Europe. We can observe that the higher the category of a hotel, the largest percentage of chain hotels in the category. Currently, the share of chain hotels exceeds 50% in five-star category and is well below 10% in the case of one-star hotels. Chain hotels are also on average larger than independent ones which are connected with the minimum requirements of hotel chains regarding the business profitability. In the case of larger hotels the fixed costs are distributed across greater number of rooms. In Poland in 2016 chain penetration by hotels was 13,7% but by keys 37,4%.

In Polish hotel market is 13,7% of chains hotels and 86,3% are not chains. International brands’ share of Poland’s hotel market remains low, 11,04%, with domestic hotel operators accounting for 8,2% (Table 1). This low share is the result of a growth in supply of both independently run and hotel chain facilities. Number one in Poland chains groups is international chains group - AccorHotels with 71 hotels and 12,085 rooms. Number one chains brand is Ibis with 31 hotels and 4,195 rooms (Table 2). Number two is Hilton with 14 hotels and 2,652 rooms and number three is Marriott International with 9 hotels and 2,477 rooms.

Table 1: Key statistics of chains hotels in Poland and selected European country in 2016.

Table 2: Overall ranking of chains and brands by size in Poland in 2016.

However, we can expect a rise in branded hotels’ share – according to STR Global’s data, Poland is the fifth-largest market in Europe in terms of the number of branded hotels planned or under construction, after Great Britain, Turkey, Russia and Germany [11]. In 2016, sixteen new international hotels (15% of total new supply) started operating in the market, with AccorHotels (8 hotels) constituting the majority of that number. The share of international brands in Poland’s hotel market remains low at 6%, with domestic hotel operators accounting for 10% [12]. Hotel chains that are the most active in terms of new openings in Poland are: Orbis/Accor, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Best Western and Marriot Hotels & Resorts (Table 2).

The number of hotels in the major cities and tourist destinations in Poland is growing. Such a strong supply of new hotels poses a challenge for hotel operators, who have to deal with increasing competition.

Strategy is first and foremost a broad and complex concept. In an attempt to provide a definition, Porter [13] states that strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position involving a different set of activities. The essence of strategic positioning is to choose activities that yield superior profitability because they are different from rivals’ and thus create a sustainable competitive advantage. Competition, known as a mutual struggle with its most common definition, is described as mutual tactical struggles of the companies in a sector which they make to get a competition advantage and to fulfill their aims [14]. In the business world, competition strategies have gained importance depending on the intensity of the competition. While defining the competition strategy, Porter [13] puts an emphasis on the strategic position that the organization will be able to obtain an income which is above the sector average.

Strategy types have been identified in a number of several industries, however Miles and Snow’s [15] and Porter’s [13] generic strategic typology classification schemes have come forth as the most popular and widely used. Their appeal springs from the fact that generic strategies, by definition, are not limited to any particular industry or context. In particular Porter’s [13] model of generic strategies has outperformed all other contributions in terms of the impact on business-strategy formulation. Porter in model of generic strategies proposes three different approaches to gaining or strengthening competitive advantages (competitive strategies) proposed: overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. All three strategies have the potential to result in above-average profits; however, all three strategies may not be equally suitable for a firm. The reason is that the three strategies differ on a number of dimensions and pose different requirements, for example in terms of resources, skills, organizational arrangements, control procedures, incentive systems and management style. Profitability may vary depending on the wellness of fit between the firm and the selected strategy, which make the decision of which strategy to adopt key to the benefits of strategic planning and requires that the choice be well founded. The challenge lies in selecting the strategy that best suits the firm’s strengths and resources and is least replicable by competitors and this in turn necessitates knowledge about the firm, its business environment and competitors. Porter’s model facilitates the decision-making process and improves the probability for a firm that chooses an appropriate strategy.

Overall cost leadership strategy mean that low cost relative to competitors is the theme running through the entire overall cost leadership strategy and the objective is clearly overall industry cost leadership. Attaining cost leadership typically requires aggressive construction of efficient scale facilities and vigorous pursuit of cost reductions through experience, tight cost and overhead control, avoidance of marginal customer accounts, and cost minimization in areas like R&D, service, sales force, advertising, etc. When attempting to achieve an overall cost leadership position, low cost relative to competitors is the theme running through the entire strategy. As suggested by Porter “[a low-cost position] gives a firm a defense against rivalry from competitors, because its lower costs mean that it can still earn returns after its competitors have competed away their profits through rivalry. A low-cost position defends the firm against powerful buyers because buyers can exert power only to drive down prices to the level of the next most efficient competitor. Low cost provides a defense against powerful suppliers by providing more flexibility to cope with input cost increases. The factors that lead to a low-cost position usually also provide substantial entry barriers in terms of scale economies or cost advantages. Finally, a low-cost position usually places the firm in a favourable position vis-à-vis substitutes relative to its competitors in the industry.”22 Because scale economies and cost advantages tend to defend a firm against powerful buyers and suppliers and provide substantial entry barriers, achieving a low overall cost position often requires a high relative market share. In other words, cost advantages can create value for a firm by reducing the five threats of entry, rivalry, substitutes, suppliers and buyers. Barney & Hesterley [16] mean that there are six main cost advantages or, sources of cost advantages for firms that successfully adopt cost leadership:

• size differences and economies of scale,

• size differences and diseconomies of scale,

• experience differences and learning-curve economies,

• differential low-cost access to productive inputs,

• technological advantages independent of scale, and policy choices.

Further, the authors explain that the ability of a valuable cost leadership strategy to create a sustainable competitive advantage is conditional upon the strategy being rare and costly to imitate.

Differentiation strategies consists in differentiating the product or service offered by the firm, in other words, creating something that is perceived industry-wide as being unique. Differentiation may be achieved in various ways, for example through design, brand image, technology, features, customer service, and dealer network. Bases of differentiation may be sorted into three categories. Firstly, to implement differentiation, a firm may focus directly on product (or service) attributes, i.e. product features, product complexity, timing of product introduction, or location.

Secondly, a firm may focus on the relationship between itself and its customers, for example through product customisation, consumer marketing and product reputation. Finally, differentiation may be implemented by focusing on the linkage within or between firms, which includes linkage within functions of a firm, linkage with other firms, product mix, distribution channels and service support. Ideally, the firm should differentiate itself along several dimensions. There may also be other ways for firms to differentiate than the examples mentioned above. In fact, Barney and Hesterley [16] argues that, product differentiation is ultimately an expression of the creativity of individuals and groups within the firms. It is limited only by the opportunities that exist, or that can be created, in a particular industry and by the willingness and ability of firms to creatively explore ways to take advantage of those opportunities.

According to Porter differentiation may generate superior profitability for the reason that provides insulation against competitive rivalry because of brand loyalty by customers and resulting lower sensitivity to price. It also increases margins, which avoids the need for a low-cost position. The resulting customer loyalty and the need for a competitor to overcome uniqueness provide entry barriers. Differentiation yields higher margins with which to deal with supplier power, and it clearly mitigates buyer power, since buyers lack comparable alternatives and are thereby less price sensitive. Finally, the firm that has differentiated it to achieve customer loyalty should be better positioned vis-à-vis substitutes than its competitors.

The focus strategy aims at serving a particular target or segment of the industry well, as opposed to both overall cost leadership and differentiation strategies seek to achieve their objectives industry-wide. For example, a firm may choose to serve a particular buyer group, segment of the product line or geographic market. Thus a focus strategy sets out to achieve a low cost or differentiation position, or both, from the perspective of its narrow market segment.

The competition in international hotels groups is increasingly fierce, so only hotels with the best managing can to be winner on the market.

In hotel industry the very important attached is service quality which is key success factor.

Customer satisfaction is a case that becomes company’s expectation, especially in hospitality field.

Accor S.A., using the brand name AccorHotels, is a French multinational hotel group headquartered in Paris. In 1967, Paul Dubrule and Gérard Pélisson founded the Société d’investissement et d’exploitation hôteliers (SIEH) hotel group and opened the first Novotel hotel outside Lille in northern France. In 1974, they launched the Ibis brand with the opening of the Ibis Bordeaux. Now, the AccorHotels group’s brands present in over 95 countries throughout the world, with over 4 200 hotels and 600 000 rooms. AccorHotels ranks sixth in the global hotel industry, based on number of rooms [17]. AccorHotels hotels are affiliated with the Group via four main operating structures – franchise agreements, management contracts, leases and ownership. As part of the Group’s organization into the HotelInvest and HotelServices businesses, all of the owned and leased hotels are integrated into the HotelInvest portfolio and are operated by HotelServices under management contracts.

The AccorHotels group is developing most intensively in the European hotel market, which leads in the rankings of international groups and hotel chains. In Poland, it remains the leader, taking first place among hotel chains (Table 2). The AccorHotels Corporation has expanded into the Polish market through a strategic partnership with the Polish Orbis Hotel Group, from which it acquired 51.55% of the shares. As a result, she transferred her know-how and competences, which are the result of many years of experience. Individual brands are positioned in all five market segments, which are presented in Table 3. AccorHotels has a wide range of services tailored to the different requirements of guests from the luxury segment to the budget segment, traveling individually and business.

Table 3: Classification of brands belonging to the AccorHotels group.

AccorHotels’ strategy is to accelerate hotel development, through both organic growth and acquisition. Since 1998, Accor has been developing partnerships with major firms. These alliances manifest a strategic determination to adopt an overall group to group approach that is advantageous for both customers and partners. Naturally, this type of cooperation is concerned with business segments that offer a potential for synergies or that target the same customer base known for its mobility: transport, leisure activities, information and travel-related services. The business net-work is growing up more and more. Accor are highly successful over the long-term effectively acquire, develop and manage resources and capabilities that provide competitive advantages. Accorhotels uses its intangible assets to compete with other global concerns on the Polish hotel market. In the competitive struggle, he uses the knowledge of hotel management.

Their competitors are very smart and worldwide famous business organizations. The organizations are Starwood, Marriott, Hilton, Intercontinental, Hyatt and Wyndham. All are established with strong business performance background and capability. Accor group implement and continue its strategic plan to promote its growth in corporate service.

Accor has leveraged its more than forty years of experience to develop very high level skills platforms. These interconnected units extend across all businesses and countries to create a system that is truly unique. By sharing best practices and pooling costs, they enhance the performance of Accor’s brands, support hotel owners and employees in their day to day operations and guarantee that customers always receive the very best service.

Web teams enhance hotel visibility and make booking easier via the accorhotels.com or individual brand sites. Hotel reservation systems are considered as an important component of the Critical Success Factors which is very essential for strength of a brand [18]. In addition, they support the brand’s online development through partner websites. Each year, more than 90 million people visit Accor websites around the world. One of the strengths of Accor brand is its reservation system, known as TARS which supports its sale from online reservations and payment to sales optimization management. 38 million reservations were booked through TARS reservation system and 79 million room nights were produced. TARS has 32 local versions and 16 languages localizing knowledge in every market and having an average of 45000 reservations per day [19]. In addition to this, AccorHotel group developed mobile sites for each of its brands and 30% of AccorHotels web visits came through mobile devices. Three Million applications were downloaded by Accor guests. AccorHotels call centers and after-sales service also fostered its brand presence. Both telephone bookings and customer relationship including e-mails, postal mail, social networks etc. were handled by AccorHotels Customer Contact Centers. In 2014, 1500 hotels utilized the services of call centers and after sales service and 2.5 million booking calls were handled by the department. Last but not the least, call capture rate was 95%.

Branded hotels might use brand’s revenue system. It has been stated that revenue can be increased by using brand revenue management system according to some industry revenue specialists. With the help of this system, fluctuations in demand curve might be identified correctly and effective rate structure might be applied to keep the occupancy level steady [20]. Accor’s revenue management system named as Revenue Management on Demand (RMD) helped Accor strengthen its brand and increase its revenue. In 2014, 1600 hotels employed RMD. 700 specialists only concentrated on revenue management in 2014. Accor Hotels also offered Revenue Management services like RMD consulting and RMD training. Moreover, hotels which utilized RMD experienced 8% growth in Revpar compared to the other hotels which did not use it.

O’Neill and Carlback [20] stated that branded hotels performed better than independent hotels in terms of occupacy percentage and net operating income during recession in the USA. One of the reason might be that branded hotel companies have sufficent and strong revenue management systems and tools [21].

Another key iniative of Accor is the worldwide sales network of Accor’s Hotel group. The company had more than 500 main corporate client accounts worldwide.

In addition, AccorHotels on the Polish market offers numerous promotions and discounts; among others free stay of one or two children (under 12) in a room with parents or guardians 758. In the Novotel network, children under 16 receive a free breakfast and overnight stay under the care of adults. The consortium also applies weekend and seasonal price reductions. On the Polish market, the corporation differentiates prices taking into account the geographical location of the facilities. Other prices are valid for objects of the same brand located in the city center from those located in holiday resorts.

AccorHotels differentiates prices using other marketing tools, including loyalty program in which guests receive points for staying in hotels and for services purchased from partners, including at Europcar, Club Mediterranean, the 12 largest airlines, ex. Air France, KLM, British Airways. Loyalty programs are considered very important for the guests while booking a hotel room. Two out of five guests from each ten hotel companies preferred to make booking to that specific hotel because of attractiveness of loyalty program [20]. O’Neill and Carlback [20] added that loyalty program shaving more commercial accounts provided more stable occupancy for the branded properties during recessions when corporate and government guests are looking for value and consistency. Le Club AccorHotels is the one of the most valuable piece of Accor brands. With the help of this loyalty program, Accor builds long term relationship with their guests. The number of hotels in particular networks involved in this type of activity means that these are offers of large scope and scale.

Employees are the key assets for Accor. Accor’s businesses provide employment opportunities in 95 countries. A caring employer providing respect, training and career development for more than 250,000 employees in its hotel brands worldwide. AccorHotels offers more than 100 professions across the 5 continents. The Academie Accor is the one of the best hospitality schools around the world. The program offers more than 300 courses in 20 foreign languages. There were 170 e-learning modules which were specific to AccorHotels. These schools have operated in various countries like France, Germany, China, Brazil and Dubai. More than 145,000 employees have been trained in this school. There is a high competition between hotel companies in order to attract best employees. Having a strong brand name becomes a stragic asset for the hospitality companies in order to boost employee loyalty, reducing labor turnover and giving opportunity for its employees to improve themselves [22-25].

In Poland, AccorHotels achieved low-cost position with a high market share. It provided the buyers with a traditional accommodation service at an affordable price. It continues to expand its operations on the Polish market through the offer of new networks (including the Ibis Styles and Pullman brands), which is addressed to well-defined groups of buyers [26].

In Poland, AccorHotels group policy concerns primarily the development of the Ibis Hotels and Ibis Budget brands, as well as the transformation and adaptation of selected facilities of the Orbis Hotel Group to the requirements of the consortium network. Thus, further Accor’s activity will be carried out through the expansion of the brands presented to our market [27].

The work noted that the essential being in creating a long-term advantage competition is played by undertakings that generate distinctive resources used in the provision of hotel services. Having adequate resources guarantees hotel companies a more effective use of market opportunities and effective reduction of dangers resulting from the impact of the environment.

Competing on the basis of distinctive resources among concerns on the global market means that currently a significant number of networks decides to start operations on new unknown markets. The proceedings adopted by the hotel corporations impose the need to involve not only own resources, but also to exchange them with foreign organizations.

As a consequence, unique resources arise which result from the consolidation of own experience and know-how with resources owned by foreign companies operating on a given market. Thus, distinctive resources affect the form of conducting business, because they contribute to the increase of market access restrictions and to exclude direct rivals from it, who are unable to adapt to the current circumstances in the sector.

The present study investigates the competition strategies of hotel companies focusing on AccorHotel Group branding strategies. The present study investigates the competition strategies of hotel companies focusing on AccorHotel Group branding strategies. In the first part of the paper is analysing of Polish hotel industry based on statistical data, industry raports.