Skift Take

Accor will replace its legacy in-house platform with Amadeus's newest central reservation system over the next few years. The goal is to help reduce the hotel giant's reliance on costly online travel agencies by broadening the channels it can sell rooms on.

Accor said Wednesday it's hiring Amadeus to install a new central reservation system across its global portfolio of 5,600 properties. The Paris-based hotel group aims to boost revenues, optimize hotel distribution, and deliver personalized guest experiences.

The cloud-based system from Amadeus, the travel tech giant based in Madrid, will replace Accor's in-house legacy platform, which is used by more than 90% of the group's hotels, and the other systems used by the brands Raffles, Fairmont, and Swissotel.

"The joint ambition is to have the first hotels live by the end of next year, starting in North America," said Accor's chief digital officer, Alix Boulnois. "But we expect this project to last at least three years. This is a complex project, so we don't want you doing anyt