A solid and lasting business model

European leader in local tourism, the Pierre & Vacances Group meets the expectations of European holiday-makers today.

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP 2007/2008?
Gérard Brémond: 2007/2008 was a highly respectable year. With tourism turnover up 9% and a decline in property development activity given our cautious policy to acquire land and property assets, we managed to maintain virtually stable underlying operating income relative to the previous year. This result testified to the solid nature of our Group as well as the extent to which our business model can be adapted to changes in growth cycles in the tourism and property development businesses. The Group is the European leader in local tourism holiday rentals, and our residence and village offerings meet the expectations of European holiday-makers in terms of their budgets, especially in the current economic backdrop.

WHAT WERE THE STRONG POINTS OF THE YEAR?
G. B.: In order to best develop the outstanding source of growth harboured in our European portfolio, we created a single tourism division. This should help unlock a number of synergies between Pierre & Vacances Tourisme Europe and Center Parcs Europe, in key areas such as IT systems, purchases and sharing marketing costs.

In addition, we have strengthened our commitments in terms of sustainable development, with the launch of an ambitious three-year action plan, which bolsters our leading position in this field. I would also note the excellent start-up of the third Center Parcs in France, the Domaine du Lac d’Ailette in the Aisne region, with an occupancy rate of 86%, higher than our target. Finally, our Adagio City Aparthotel brand continued its growth in the highly buoyant city residences market, in particular with openings in Paris Opéra, Strasbourg, Annecy and Basel.

HOW DO YOU ENVISAGE THE GROUP’S DEVELOPMENT?
G. B.: In five year’s time, our tourism portfolio is set to include more than 10,000 additional apartments and homes. Numerous projects are currently being developed.

The Center Parcs brand is continuing its momentum in France with the opening of the new domain in Moselle in the Lorraine region in 2010 and a project in the Rhône-Alpes region. In northern Europe, and more precisely in Germany, two new domains are being considered, one in Saarland and one in Bavaria.

For Pierre & Vacances Tourisme Europe, we are planning the construction of Résidences MGM, Pierre & Vacances and Maeva residences in Avoriaz, totalling 475 apartments in all. In Morocco, our strategic development plan concerns more than 10,000 beds out to 2013, with projects in Marrakech, Agadir, Rabat, Tanger and Casablanca. The opening of the first residence in Marrakech is programmed for 2011. For the Adagio City Aparthotel brand, created out of our partnership with Accor, we are maintaining our target to operate 50 residences in Europe by 2012, with a doubling in turnover.

The Villages Nature project in partnership with Euro Disney is progressing and a first phase of 800 homes could be started in the next two years.

In addition, our Group boasts a sound balance sheet that should enable it to grasp acquisitions opportunities in its core businesses in Europe, while operations to take over tour operators under management mandates are also underway in Spain and Morocco.