Accor “reimagines hospitality” with 1200 co-working spaces by 2022

Accor has announced plans to implement 1,200 coworking spaces in under 3 years for WOJO to become the leading coworking brand in Europe by 2022.

According to Sebastien Bazin, chairman and CEO of AccorHotels, hotels are “virtually empty” between 9:30 am to 7:30 pm. To capitalise on this, and to benefit the local population, the company announced the launch of WOJO, expanding into new verticals and augmenting its hospitality strategy. These spaces will allow nomadic workers to work without a fee with the guarantee of personalised service, a friendly atmosphere and a secure, reliable Wi-Fi connection in its design spaces.

More than 150 WOJO Spots will open in Paris and Lyon by summer 2019, reaching over 1000 spots in Europe by 2022. WOJO is a joint-venture between Accor & Bouygues Immobilier created in July 2017.

“We are now able to meet a key customer need”

Stephane Bensimon, CEO at WOJO, said: “As we are directly in touch with companies and workers on a daily basis, we have a thorough understanding of their needs and expectations in the workspace. A personalised welcome, premium services, a friendly atmosphere and designer spaces are all essential features covered by our expertise. Through our new range of spaces, we are now able to meet a key customer need: combining the quality of work life with mobility.

“WOJO will offer three different products and experiences to deliver the broadest range of coworking solutions in the industry.”

To drive this ambitious project, Accor’s Innovation Lab collaborated with the WOJO team to deliver a global coworking experience. The rollout of a global coworking experience with WOJO is part of Accor’s broader vision to increase its relevance in the daily lives of consumers.

“We are reimagining hospitality”

Steven Taylor, chief brand officer, said: “We are reimagining hospitality, not as a place or service, but as infinite connected moments, whether you want to live, work, or play. We are creating a holistic ecosystem around the consumer and WOJO is a great example of how our unique augmented hospitality strategy will allow us to connect into the everyday lives of customers.”