Accor is poised for its largest ever expansion in China, with a record 5 hotels opening in just over one month, and 30 hotels under development and scheduled to open in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. This…
Accor is poised for its largest ever expansion in China, with a record 5 hotels opening in just over one month, and 30 hotels under development and scheduled to open in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. This record performance is proving a growth engine driving Accor hotel development around the region and helping Accor capture a growing share of the huge Chinese outbound travel market.
April started with the launch of the Novotel Citygate Hong Kong in the new Tung Chung area close to the airport, AsiaWorld Expo and Disneyland. This outstanding hotel is part of a new era for the Novotel brand in Asia, which was the first Accor brand to be launched in China twenty years ago.
During the rest of April and early May Accor will open two Sofitels in Nanjing plus one in Hangzhou, and its third Ibis hotel in China, Ibis Qingdao.
In addition, two new hotels were added to the development list this week, a key Grand Mercure Resort in Ya Long Bay on Hainan Island, and a Mercure hotel in the Suzhou industrial area. It takes the number of hotels Accor has under development to 30. Accor currently has 34 hotels under operation in China.
According to Accor Senior Vice President Asia Pacific & CEO Greater China, Brian Deeson, this achievement is even more important given the range of the offer from the economy Ibis brand to Accor’s deluxe Sofitel brand.
“What makes Accor unique is that – unlike most international hotel groups – we don’t just concentrate on the top end of the market. Our development strategy covers the full market spectrum from 5-star Sofitels to 3 star Ibis hotels, with Novotel and Mercure covering the mid-market. There is a major reason for this. China not only offers the most dynamic domestic market for hotel development, it is also a crucial inbound and outbound market.”
“That is why we are holding World of Accor, because increasingly China will be one of the most influential outbound markets in the world, filling Accor hotel rooms across the Asia Pacific region, as well as Europe and the Americas.”
According to the Pacific Asia Travel Association over 32 million Chinese travelled abroad in 2005, and it is conservatively estimated that by 2020 the figure will reach 100 million, making China by far the largest and most significant outbound travel market in the world.
Accor’s three-star Ibis chain was the first international economy hotel brand in China and broke new ground by targeting mainly domestic and regional market. Ibis Qingdao will be followed by new Ibis hotels scheduled to open later this year in Chongqing, Wuhan, Wuxi and Zhongshan.
In February new Accor CEO Gilles Pelisson made China his first stop in Asia since taking over, and signed an agreement to develop three more Ibis hotels in Chengdu, plus three hotels in the nearby cities Yi Bing, Ya An and De Yang, all in Sichuan Province. This is part of a brand strategy that will have Accor up to 10 Ibis hotels per year from 2007.
The group will bring its flagship Sofitel brand to the Chinese capital with the opening of Sofitel Wanda Beijing in 2007, and it is slated to become a signature hotel for the Sofitel brand in China. Other important hotel openings in the Beijing metropolitan area include Novotel Beijing West in Zhongguancun known for its high technology and computer software industries. The hotel will open in the second half of 2006
Accor has a Novotel and Ibis complex planned as part of Beijing’s new Phoenix Plaza commercial and retail development on the edge of the city and close to the new Olympic Village. They are both scheduled to open early 2008 in time for the Olympics.
This September Accor will celebrate the opening of Novotel Baiyun Airport Guangzhou, building the group’s presence in China’s key transport and commercial centres.
