Name: Carlo Olejniczak
Title: Senior vice president, global sales
Company, city: Accor; Paris, France
Number of employees: 170,000 worldwide
Recent project: Moving the entire Accor sales division to the Salesforce platform; we have 700 salespeople worldwide who can connect and share best practices and customer intel using this platform.
First job: Creating opinion polls and a stand-in on TV
Little-known fact about you: I only tease the people I like.

Your Business

Essential business philosophy: To create a sustainable, profitable growth, hire the right people and develop their talents.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Listen to your customers and adapt your services appropriately.

Yardstick of success: The growth of guest retention; it costs more to find new guests than to keep current guests coming back.

Carlo Olejniczak as a Traveler

What is the most important item you take when traveling? There are three: my music, my tennis shoes and all those items that help me stay connected.

How do you spend your time on board? Airplanes are where I sleep the most. I usually sleep about four to five hours per night, but on a plane, I can sleep for six or seven. It’s a combination of work and rest on flights.

What is your favorite restaurant in the world? L’Ami Jean in Paris

What is your favorite destination in the world? Biarritz, in French Basque country

About Accor

Which of Accor’s brands most appeal to business travelers?
All of our brands appeal to business travelers, as Accor covers economy to luxury, depending on a guest’s needs. Our Adagion brand is perfect for longer stays, as it is a hotel/apartment concept. The Ibis is a more budget option, while Pullman was created on the concept of blending business and leisure. This particularly appeals to a young executive, as it offers connectivity and features like pool tables to pull in the pleasure/play concept. Sofitel is our luxury brand, offering an upscale experience to the business traveler.

Tell our readers more about Sofitel’s French luxury concept.
The French name is synonymous with luxury. Our hospitality concept is French-influenced, elegant with a twist of local culture in the food, design and decoration. Sofitel is heavily involved in the arts; the connection to the arts is quintessential Sofitel. For example, our New York property hosted a Picasso exhibition of his photographs of greats like Chagall and Dalí; this private collection cannot be seen anywhere else. It’s all about culture, design and gourmet dining. We look to bring a unique experience to all of our properties. In some instances, we work with well-known fashion designers and architects to achieve our vision.

What are the expansion plans for Accor brands in 2015?
We plan to open 150 hotels in the next five years. Our main focus is on the emerging markets of Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East; particularly, we are developing the Pullman, Sofitel and Ibis brands.