Accor's accelerated franchising strategy will be led by an “owner-centric and owner-minded approach,” said Accor's global chief franchising officer Leire Leoz, who said owners and investors must remain at the center of the company's long-term asset-light growth plans.
Speech at AccorHotels Pacific Franchise Conference 2026 Leire Leoz, chief franchise officer for Accor's premium, midmarket and economy division, said in Sydney last week that while franchising continued to grow globally, the European brand needed to “catch up” to international rivals who were leading market share.
“I think the acceleration of franchising is what we're going to face. It's definitely not something we're driving. It's a market trend,” Leoz said, adding that 65% of Accor's global network has franchise agreements in place, and while that may seem high, “when we compare it to our competitors, it's actually very low.”
Leoz, who worked in franchising for Marriott International for 15 years before joining AccorHotels, claims that about 85% of the franchise agreements in Marriott's global network are franchise agreements, while Hilton is closer to 95%. “We have some catching up,” she added.
According to Leoz, franchising serves a dual function: from a brand perspective, accelerating growth through scale, and from an owner or investor perspective, franchising facilitates distribution and allows them to maintain control of the asset.
Leoz said she was “very impressed” with the quality of brands within Accor's network, the group announced Convert friendly greetings About to launch in the Pacific Ocean.
Addressing delegates, she acknowledged that “you used to have the choice to go into hotel investing and then you had the choice of brands and partners”.
Because franchising directly impacts Accor's asset-light strategy, owners must stay ahead of the curve to succeed, Leoz said.
“An asset life strategy only works if you have people with heavy assets. So without owners and investors, we are nothing. It's clear that if we don't have a balance sheet and investment ready to put into hotels and partners in our brands, we're not going to grow.”
Going forward, Leoz said her top priority is to embed the owner-first philosophy more deeply into the entire business.
“So in my new role, maintaining this asset-light structure, what I really want to do is take an owner-centric and owner-mindset approach… We need to put the owner at the center of what we do.”
“It's not that we're trying to hit the EBITDA target, that's going to happen if we do the right things, and the right things are delivering value to our partners and making sure we have the right tools. We don't need too many, we need the right tools. The ones that make a difference, the ones that make a difference to your top line and your bottom line.”
Despite continued uncertainty in the market, Leoz said the hotel industry has continued to prove its resilience.
“Obviously we're in turbulent times … but I think it's good to remember that our industry has been through worse crises than this, and we've always seen how resilient we are as an industry.”
“The future is bright and the future is franchising.”
