Hotel operator signs 62 new hotels in China

Accor, has announced that it has signed 62 new hotels in China, boosting the number of hotels scheduled to be opened or under development by 2010 to more than 180 hotels (40,000 rooms).

This builds on Accor’s current China network of 50 hotels and 15,017 rooms.

The rapid development program was announced today at Accor’s annual ‘World of Accor’ expo at the Sofitel Wanda Beijing, which opened last month as the signature – and 50th – hotel for the group in China.

As part of this expansion, Accor will open three additional hotels in Beijing by the time of the 2008 Olympics – Novotel & Ibis Phoenix Plaza and Mercure Wanshang Beijing. By the time of the Olympics, Accor will have seven hotels across the city with over 2700 rooms.

Two new Sofitels in China are being developed by the Wanda Group: Sofitel Wanda Harbin, due to open by the end of the year, and Sofitel Wanda Ningbo, scheduled to open in late 2008. The Wanda Group has already developed Sofitel hotels in Beijing and Chengdu.

Other hotels announced today include Grand Mercure hotels in Dongguan and Guilin, a Novotel/Ibis complex as well as a Mercure in Chengdu, another Novotel/Ibis hotel complex in Shenyang and 41 new Ibis hotels in major regional centres.

The ninth 3-star Ibis hotel in China – Ibis Xi’an Heping Road – opened last month, and two more will open later this year (Shenyang and Jinan).

A further 50 Ibis hotels are either under construction or in advanced stages of planning, which will see the Ibis network establish a major presence in both gateway cities – such as Beijing and Shanghai – and key provincial cities, including Suzhou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Chengdu and Dalian by the end of the decade.

2007 will be a record year for Accor hotel openings in China with over 20 hotels already launched.

Major hotels opened this year include the Sofitel Wanda Beijing and Grand Mercure Xidan Beijing and three hotels in Shanghai – Grand Mercure Hongqiao, Grand Mercure Baolong and Pudi Boutique Hotel.

Announcing the major expansion, Accor Asia Pacific Managing Director, Michael Issenberg, said that it was significant that Accor was not concentrating on one single sector of the market, but rather expanding across the full market spectrum.

“We will expand our 5-star Sofitel brand significantly in the next few years and the opening of the Sofitel Wanda Beijing marks the start of a new era for the brand,” he said

China is a global priority for the development of Accor’s 5-star luxury brand, Sofitel, and has been the venue for the opening of one of the first of the ‘new era’ Sofitels – the Platinum 5-star rated Sofitel Wanda Beijing, one of the Chinese capital’s most luxurious and distinctive luxury hotels.

Other major Sofitel hotels scheduled to open over the next six months include Sofitel Riverside Qingyuan, Sofitel Forebase Chongqing, Sofitel Wanda Harbin, Sofitel Sheshan Resort Shanghai and Sofitel Macau@Ponte16.

“We were extremely honoured to host President Hu JinTao at the Sofitel in Sydney during APEC earlier this month and we expect the Sofitel network in China to host many international dignatories”, added Michael Issenberg.

“Accor will also introduce the new Pullman brand to China next year. A very well known and highly regarded name in upmarket hospitality, it will provide an even greater diversity of hotel choice for China’s rapidly growing commercial and leisure markets.”

While Accor is rapidly building its network of luxury 5-star hotels, the company is also establishing itself as the leading international operator in the economy hotel sector.

“While we are placing great emphasis on the development of our upper-scale brands we are also expanding rapidly in the mid- and economy sectors of the market – which sets Accor apart from most other international hotel companies.”

“In China, we offer a complete range of hotel styles, from luxury to economy, from city-centre to resort, and from major gateway cities to regional and emerging cities. We cover the needs of the complete range of domestic and international travellers in China.”

“With the Chinese mainland expected to double the number of foreign visitors from the current 25 million to 50 million by 2020, and with a forecast of 1.5 billion domestic trips, Accor is developing its network to cover the areas of greatest new demand.” “Our wider presence in the Chinese market will also benefit the outbound market, with growth of over 10% in outbound travel forecast for destinations such as Europe, Asia and Australia, where Accor has a very significant presence.”

Report by The Mole