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French hotel group Accor announced this week that it would double its China hotel network from its current 24 hotels to close to 50 by the end of 2007 as part of its largest-ever expansion in China. There would be rapid growth across all of Accor's brands, and in particular its 5-star Sofitel brand and economy Ibis brand, which is forecast to grow by 10 hotels annually from 2007.<\/p>\n
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The announcement was made by Accor Asia Pacific President, Michael Issenberg, at the first World of Accor travel trade expo to be held in China. The event, held at the Novotel Peace Hotel Beijing, features 50 Accor delegates from around the world, representing the group's global network of 4000 hotels and resorts.<\/p>\n
World of Accor is a travel expo being held in 11 major cities around the Asia Pacific region. Representatives from travel companies are invited to meet with Accor delegates to discuss travel requirements for domestic, outbound and inbound travel needs.<\/p>\n
A World of Accor is also being scheduled in Shanghai on Friday 15 April at the Sofitel Jin Jiang Oriental Pudong.<\/p>\n
This is the first time that World of Accor has been staged in China, reflecting the importance of China to Accor's global development strategy. It also takes place as a focal point in the Year of France in China celebrations.<\/p>\n
Accor will open 11 new 5-star Sofitel hotels by the end of 2007, including the prestigious Sofitel Wanda Beijing \u0096 Accor's first Sofitel in Beijing. The hotel is part of the new Wanda Square development on Jianguo Road and will become one of the city's most important commercial and hospitality precincts. <\/p>\n
Other cities for Softel development include Xian (in June 2005), Haikou, Suzhou, Xiamen, Anshan, Shijiazhuang, Shenyang, Shanghai and Nanjing.<\/p>\n
The two projects in Nanjing \u0096 the Sofitel Zhongshan Golf and Resort and Sofitel Galaxy, both of which are scheduled to open by the end of this year \u0096 were signed last week in Nanjing by Accor co-founder Paul Dubrule.<\/p>\n
Also newly-signed is a Novotel for the new Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou, which will open in October 2005. It will be the exclusive airport hotel. <\/p>\n
In December 2005, Accor will add its fourth hotel in Beijing \u0096 the Novotel Zhongguancun.<\/p>\n
Mr Issenberg announced today that Accor's introduction of its 3-star Ibis brand in Tianjin had been so successful \u0096 with average occupancies over 90% in its first full year \u0096 that the hotel would be expanded by an additional 70 rooms. <\/p>\n
A second Ibis will open in Chengdu later this year and by 2006 there would be 12 Ibis hotels in operation, with 10 planned to open in 2007. Land had already been secured for the sites, which will be based around four major centres \u0096 Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.<\/p>\n
Mr Issenberg said that the Ibis development would make a significant change to China's hospitality sector.<\/p>\n
We have used the Ibis Tianjin as a testing ground for the product and it has performed even more successfully than we anticipated, he said. There is no international hotel brand in China aimed at this sector and with domestic travel scheduled to grow five-fold by 2010, there is a clear market need for quality, internationally branded accommodation in major cities, new economic zones, transport hubs and regional centres.<\/p>\n
These hotels will also attract travellers from the rest of Asia and internationally, especially with the expansion of new air carriers, and in particular low-cost carriers. Ibis has been one of the most successful global hotel brands in the past decade and we believe it will have a major impact in China.<\/p>\n
We will also expand our 5-star Sofitel and 4-star Novotel brands, but what makes Accor different from the other international hotel companies is that we do not concentrate solely on the top end of the market or only at international travellers. We cover the needs of the complete range of domestic and international travellers in China.<\/p>\n
Accor will also introduce its Mercure brand to China later in the year, and the benefit of having our four main hotel brands \u0096 Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis \u0096 present in the China market is that it will make these brands familiar for Chinese travellers visiting abroad.<\/p>\n
With Chinese outbound travel expected to double from its current 25 million to 50 million by 2008, we are working closely with our partners to ensure that we cater for that market in papular destinations such as Europe, Australia and a number of Asian countries. Already we lead the way with hotels offering traditional facilities and services for Chinese travellers, and we will continue to expand that policy.<\/p>\n
Only recently we played an integral part in hosting a group of 13,000 delegates from China who came to Sydney in January, and with the \u0091France in China Year' we are also seeing major increases in travel to France. <\/p>\n
By the end of the decade, China will boast the world's largest and most influential domestic, inbound and outbound markets.<\/p>\n
Mr Issenberg also welcomed the new Chief Executive Officer of Accor's China operations, Mr Brian Deeson. Mr Deeson succeeds Mr Reggie Shiu, who was a casualty in the tsunami-disaster of last December. Mr Deeson is one of Asia's most experienced and successful hotel executives. He developed the Century hotel brand in Hong Kong and China before it became integrated in the Accor group in 2002, and has been Accor's senior executive in charge of development since then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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