We had an interview with Stuart Wareman. Stuart has created, activated and evaluated multiple award-winning campaigns for some of the biggest brands with some of the biggest sponsorship platforms in the world during his time at MEC Access, Marriott and now Accor where he runs sponsorship of Paris Saint-Germain, the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, and the Accor Arena. Discover what he had to say.

Tell us about the huge sports events coming to France and what that means for you?

All eyes will be on France in the coming years with the Rugby World Cup next year and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024. Plus, we shouldn’t forget the Rugby League World Cup in 2025!

As France’s leading hotel company, Accor has a huge role to play in welcoming the world to our hotels and showcasing our world class hospitality. Our white label accommodation management system, Resa Events, is managing all the accommodation for the Rugby World Cup and Paris 2024, helping the organising committees save time and money and providing teams, sponsors, media and fans with access to accommodation for the events at the best prices. For the Games, we have the prestigious honour of being the first company to run the athlete and media villages – providing check-in/out services, housekeeping and some meal services too. Other Accor Group businesses will also be key to the success of the Games, including Potel & Chabot for high end catering services and Paris Society’s restaurants & venues.

Paris 2024 in particular provides us with a once in a lifetime opportunity to galvanise the company and instil pride in working for Accor.  It’s been a very difficult two years for everyone working in the hospitality industry and staff shortages continue to be felt.  So, the Games provide us with a unique opportunity to appeal to new and existing employees.

It also enables us to showcase our sustainability and diversity & inclusion work, including the roll out of our ‘Smart Room’ that thoughtfully adapts to cater for guests with accessibility difficulties without compromising on design aesthetics.

Can you tell us one key trend that we will see in sponsorship in 3 years’ time?

Sustainability commitments as a mandatory for sponsors & rights holders

Why does Accor invest in sponsorship?

We sell experiences and it’s our job to make people feel amazing, so they want to keep coming back.  Sponsorships provide us with Limitless Experiences for our members, business guests and employees that are unforgettable and create stronger emotional bonds to us that pays back in greater long term business value

Our sponsorships also provide a platform to reach new audiences and drive awareness of ALL.com (our gateway to over 40 hotel brands) to increase bookings, and to deepen understanding of ALL (our award-winning loyalty programme) to drive new enrolments

And importantly they are also used to drive business growth across the Accor Group

Why do you include cultural sponsorship in your portfolio?

We cater for a very diverse audience with multiple passions and interests, so we want to reflect that in our programme.  Not everyone likes sport for example.  Our white label ALL Activities platform allows members to earn or burn points on over a thousand unique events across 60+ cities in the world ranging from Candlelight Concerts to art exhibitions and even Peaky Blinders and Bridgerton experiences!