AccorHotels has published the findings from its first socio-economic footprint study, believed to be the first global report of its kind in the hospitality industry.
The study demonstrates the vast impact that large businesses can have on local communities and supply chains, with the results revealing that the activities of AccorHotels’ British operations alone sustain over 40,400 jobs worldwide, of which over 25,000 (63%) are in Great Britain.
The Group’s British operations, which comprise 197 hotels and 9,500 employees at the time the study took place, contribute a net €1.55 billion (£1.17 billion) to worldwide GDP, of which 79% (€1.22 billion / £0.92 billion) remains in the UK.
The report was commissioned with the aim of better understanding the effects of AccorHotels’ activities throughout the world, and in particular on local economies. The findings will be used to help strengthen the positive impacts the company has in the communities around its hotels and limit any negative impacts that may arise from its development.
Methodology
The study, which was audited and certified by EY, encompasses the Group’s 3,600 hotels and is based on its 2013 financial statements, looking at the three main financial flows from the Group into the economy, namely: hotel expenditure (primarily purchases from suppliers); the wages that AccorHotels brand hotels pay their employees; and the taxes resulting from the Group’s activities. The report does not take into account the local expenditure of guests staying in the hotels.
Based on these flows, it quantifies three types of impacts:
– Direct: the value that the Group adds and the presence of AccorHotels employees around the world
– Indirect: the economic impacts from its purchases, expenditure or investments;
– Induced: the activities supported by employees and taxes paid by AccorHotels or its suppliers (household consumption and public expenditure).
The study found that over and above the 9,500 employees it has in Britain, AccorHotels supports 16,000 indirect and induced jobs in the country and over 30,000 globally. Outside the hospitality sector, key industries supported in Britain include financial intermediation and business activities (6,200 jobs supported), education and health (2,800 jobs), and public administration (1,200). Transport, construction, retail, food & beverages, and post & telecommunications also heavily benefit from the activities of the Group.
Arnaud Herrmann, VP, Sustainable Development, AccorHotels, commented: “This study demonstrates that we are succeeding in creating real value for the communities in which we operate. But the deep interconnections between the Group and the host countries mean that we have a substantial responsibility to those countries and communities, for whom we need to continuously strive to drive greater socio-economic value.
“With this in mind, these findings will be used to help fine-tune the next chapter in PLANET 21, our sustainable development programme, which will be announced in Spring.”
On a global level, the study reveals that AccorHotels sustains around 880,000 jobs around the world, including 186,000 employees and almost 700,000 indirect and induced jobs. The report findings suggest that every job created in an AccorHotels brand supports more than four other jobs around the world, of which 70% are in the countries where AccorHotels operates. The Group contributes €22 billion (£16.5 billion) to global GDP, which is the equivalent of a country like Cyprus, and of which on average 83% stays in the country in question.
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