Louvre hotels group, the 2nd largest european hotel group, is the first hotel group to support the growth of the solikend startup by forming a unique partnership. winner of the golden travel 2022, this social justice and solidarity company enables hotels and their clients to donate solidarity nights to associations. solikend’s solidarity nights: how does this work?

Launched in the Basque country in September 2019 by Yoann Magnin, Lucille Ducalet and Guillaume Magda, Solikend is the first solidarity platform for hotel reservations. The three founders noticed that many hotels have vacant rooms each year and thought it would be important to open these up to associations and the public. In practice, each hotel manager donates a minimum of 20 nights per year during dates when the hotel is not fully booked. The client who wants to work with associations then goes to the Solikend site where they can see the participating hotels (Golden Tulip, Campanle, Kyriad, etc) with the available dates. When they make their reservation, they choose the social cause they wish to support from among the associations proposed by Solikend: recognized French associations such as the SPA, Secours Populaire, Amnesty International, SOS Children’s Villages or local associations recommended by partner hotels. The total cost of the reservation is paid by the client at the hotel and then transferred to the chosen association. Additionally, if they wish, the client can pay more than the room rate in order to donate more to the association.

Louvre hotels group commits to sustainable and solidarity tourism. Today, sustainable tourism has become an essential criteria in travelers’ choices, both for its environmental aspects as well as its societal ones. Currently 73% of travelers prefer to reserve in a hotel that incorporates sustainable practices. Solidarity and societal commitment are at the heart of Louvre Hotels Group’s CSR strategy. So, this partnership is an excellent way for the group to bring awareness to their clients and allow their collaborators and partners another option for sustainable tourism. In fact, the hotels can also exchange with Solikend to recommend local associations of their choice to their clients

“We are very proud to actively participate in Solikend’s development by offering this solution to all of our hotels, whether they are affiliates or franchised partners. We hope to have a hundred hotels on the platform by 2024. This solidarity platform is a fantastic tool to highlight the commitment and solidarity of our hotel managers who are already engaged in their local regions, but also to make our clients aware of the causes that are dear to us. More than ever, we are convinced that tourism has a large role to play in society’s solidarity movement. And Solikend is also a relevant solution to encourage tourism in the off season, by giving access to open rooms during that time.”, states Marie Nonell Marie Nonell, CSR Director of Louvre Hotels Group.

Solikend is a young entity, begun in Biarritz in 2019. Despite the difficult Covid period, Solikend has progressively developed by attracting a growing number of hotels, associations and clients. Today we are very happy that a group as important as Louvre Hotels Group has joined the Solikend adventure by partnering with us for a more united world. Such a partnership will allow us to continue to grow throughout France, and even perhaps one day throughout Europe, making SOLIKEND a major player in solidarity as well as shining light on the solidarity values of our hotel managers and our regions!” Yoann Magnin, Founder, Solikend