Accor has signed an agreement with Hangzhou Binjiang Real Estate to launch a 5-star Sofitel hotel in Zhejiang Province's Qiaodaohu Lake Scenic Spot.

Since 1982, when it was first recognized as a scenic spot, Qiandaohu Lake has received about 11 million annual visitors, of which 600,000 are foreign tourists. During this past May Day Holiday, the scenic spot received 724,000 tourists, increasing by 26.57% over the same period of last year.

After the expressway between Hangzhou and Qiaodaohu Lake is opened at the end of this year, it will only take ninety minutes to get to Qiandaohu from Hangzhou.

At present, there are 91 hotels in Qiaodaohu Lake Scenic Spot, but only 10 of them are three-star or higher grade hotels. Among them there is only one 5-star hotel.

Accor has invited the American design company WATG to design the new hotel, which will occupy 38,000 square meters in space and offer 226 rooms. The hotel will involve a total investment of RMB400 million.