Not even the super-rich are immune to having their data mined – that’s because upstarts like John Paul, AccorHotels’ concierge division, want to drive sales by looking into their phones and offering them just what they want.

“Standard features of the premium experience are vanishing,” said Frédéric Martinez, EMEA CEO of Accor’s John Paul Group, speaking at ITB Berlin.

He added: “People are looking for what they really want, and that doesn’t always correspond to their status category. We create a ‘wow’ effect using the knowledge we have about the customer – all of the data that we have about their affinities and their passions.”

Martinez says this is key part of AccorHotels’ “strategy of augmented hospitality.”

“The arena of concierge services is expanding,” Martinez said. “We work with luxury and retail brands which try to extend the luxury experience beyond the borders of the shop or the car. That’s really what we are focusing on.”

AccorHotels is the world's fifth-largest hotel group. In 2016, it bought an 80 percent stake in John Paul for about $150 million in equity and debt. Though in 2018, it wrote off $288 million from John Paul and its other tech investment, Onefinestay.

This is strictly an exclusive feature, reprints of this article in any shape or form without prior written approval from 4Hoteliers.com is not permitted. Michael Scaturro is reporting exclusively for 4Hoteliers.com at ITB Berlin 2019 - www.4Hoteliers.com/itb.

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