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At an event to announce the ibis Hong Kong Sheung Wan development – a 550 room strategically located hotel in down town Hong Kong, Accor announces that the company’s growth forecast remains on target throughout Asia Pacific. During 2009, Accor has opened 32 hotels comprising of 6,155 new rooms. China remains the country with the greatest numbers of hotel openings with 14 hotels opened year to date and a further 10 hotels to open before year end. This includes Accor’s first hotel for Taiwan – Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. A further 22 hotels with 4,410 rooms are scheduled to open before the end of 2009 in Asia Pacific. This includes an additional hotel in the new frontier market of India, where Accor will have 50 hotels operating by 2012.
This ambitious target reflects a 10 fold increase in the number of hotels operating today. Michael Issenberg – Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, Accor Asia Pacific says “Accor will achieve its previously announced expansion objectives in 2009, despite being a period that has provided fresh challenges with the tightening of financial markets. We have experienced a surge in demand for new management contracts, particularly for our non standardised brand portfolio including the Pullman, Mercure and All Seasons hotel brands. This upswing in demand has positioned the Pullman brand as the fastest growing 5 star hotel brand in the region.”
ibis hotel expansion
2009 will see the opening of 21 ibis hotels throughout the region. By years end there will be 42 ibis hotels in China and the second ibis hotel in India, where a further 15 ibis hotels are committed. The brand has also expanded in Thailand, where 3 ibis hotels have opened in the past 12 months taking the number of ibis hotels to 5 in the country and an additional hotel – ibis Phuket Kata will open later this year. This expansion will see the number of ibis hotels throughout the region total 82 by year end. Earlier this year, Accor opened the Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen, a 538 room hotel in down town Singapore. This hotel has enjoyed a strong start, achieving 87% occupancy for the months of August and September and demonstrating the continuing demand for international quality economy hotels.
The Ibis Hong Kong Sheung Wan will consist of many similar features to the Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen, with the hotel also benefiting from a central city location, a large number of guest rooms (550) and will become the largest ibis hotel outside of France – the birthplace of the brand. The ibis brand has become a welcome sight throughout the Asia Pacific, for both leisure and business travelers who seek international quality economy hotels. Ibis hotels are now represented in almost every capital throughout the region.
The regions fastest growing 5 star hotel brand – Pullman
The Pullman hotel brand is enjoying a strong year for network expansion and development. Currently 13 Pullman hotels are in operation throughout Asia Pacific and a further 18 are committed to development. The Pullman brand was officially launched in Asia in January 2008 and expansion of the brand is on track to have 100 Pullman hotels throughout the region by 2015. China has adopted the Pullman Brand quickly, where 6 hotels of the current network operate. An additional 10 Pullman hotels are committed to the mainland today.
Gaurav Bhushan, Senior Vice President Development – Accor Asia Pacific says “The Pullman hotel brand’s expansion throughout the region has been exciting. The slowing of economies and tightening of credit markets has most likely contributed to the demand for the Pullman brand, as hotel owners and developers look for the might and security of international hotel companies and brands that stand out from the many 5 star brands competing in this segment of the hotel market. Enquiries for management contracts for Pullman remains unabated and we are confident that brand will develop a formidable network throughout Asia Pacific in the future.”
A surge in development for Accor’s non standardized hotel brands Accor’s non standardized Mercure brand is experiencing a resurgence of demand for new management contracts this year. 17 Mercure hotels will open during the year, adding an additional 20% to the network in Asia Pacific. The Mercure brand ideally fills a niche in the mid scale segment in price sensitive markets. This year hotels have opened in China, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and Australia.
Tatiana is the news co-ordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy. She holds a Bachelor degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
