AXA & Accor: "This health crisis reaffirmed our initial intuition was the right one"

Why does Accor partner with AXA?

AXA brings its ability to provide innovative services and assistance to Accor’s customers, whether in the event of a major crisis, which we are already doing in certain countries, or more simply in the event of an accident, incident or a specific need on the part of customers during their stay at an Accor hotel. We are offering them worldwide access to the highest level of care, leveraging the extensive medical network, expertise and medical solutions we have built at AXA Partners with more than 200 in-house doctors and nurses and over 40,000 medical providers worldwide.

What services will be offered and who can benefit from them?

As soon as July, all Accor guests will have access, at any time and free of charge, to AXA Partners' medical network, as well as to medical teleconsultations, around the world. Concretely, our API-integrated interface to Accor’s systems allows their concierge teams to easily find and recommend the most appropriate and nearest physician or hospital for their customers, certified and vetted by our teams. Customers can also opt for a teleconsultation from their room with an English-speaking certified practitioner. This service will be quickly extended to 5 additional languages and will be digitally accessible through “All”, Accor’s application dedicated to its VIP customers.

Has the Covid-19 crisis accelerated the implementation of this partnership?

Our discussions with Accor started back in 2019 to explore various opportunities and brainstorm together on ways to partner, given our shared vision of offering the best services to our customers. Interestingly, in our initial plan we were already developing solutions to provide health services and protection to customers during their mobility. The recent coronavirus health crisis reaffirmed that our initial intuition was the right one and meant that we should accelerate the launch date given the relevance of the services in order to expand people’s access to our healthcare expertise and solutions via the Accor networks worldwide.

How is this in line with AXA’s global strategy?

Health is a key area of growth in AXA’s Ambition 2020 plan, and this partnership is a perfect example of how we are extending our Payer-to-Partner strategy by offering innovative health solutions to support travelers in these ever-changing times. With Accor we have also found the perfect partner to tackle broader questions on the future of mobility and services within the hospitality industry. So, the partnership is likely to grow to potentially include new products, services and insurance coverage in the long term.

How has AXA Partners become a leader in telemedicine services over the past years? 

AXA Partners is one of the pioneers in teleconsultation, providing this solution to our customers starting in 2015. The pandemic has accelerated demand for these types of online services among other healthcare solutions we offer. Over the last few months we have seen volumes 3-4 times higher, with over 16,000 requests in France alone. What is impressive is that our teams have been able to manage the higher volume to support our customers during this time with consistent service and quality. In some markets, such as Belgium, we have even opened this service to the general public for free.