Accor Asia Pacific Managing Director Michael Issenberg speaks of China Expansion Plans

Accor is to manage three new Sofitel hotels in China, located in Hangzhou, Haikou and Liyang. Two of the hotels are scheduled to open by the end of 2005, which will extend the number of Sofitel hotels opening in China this year to eight. The three hotels are:

- Sofitel Xanadu Resort Hangzhou – opening at the end of 2005, the resort-style hotel is set on 120 acres of land that will include the 305 room hotel as well as 140 villas, conference centre, restaurants and leisure facilities. The hotel will target conference and leisure business, as well as corporate travellers visiting the nearby commercial areas.

- Sofitel Fizi Haikou – an eight storey beachfront hotel that is scheduled to open by the end of 2005. The 308 room hotel is located on the rapidly developing western coastline of Haikou and will offer three restaurants, extensive meeting and function facilities and swimming pool. A health centre and spa will be added in phase two of the development.

- Sofitel Fizi Tianmu Lake – the hotel is being built on the shoreline of Tianmu Lake in Liyang City in Jiangsu Province. Designed by renowned, New York-based architects and interior designers BBG-BBGM, the 400 room lakefront hotel is expected to be completed by December 2006.

The expansion of Accor’s 5-star hotel brand is part of a dramatic development that will see Accor’s hotel network double in size from the current 24 hotels to 50 hotels by the end of 2007, including over 20 Sofitel hotels and resorts.

Opening next month is the Sofitel Xian, part of a three-hotel complex in Renmin Square in the heart of Xian. Also, later this year Sofitel hotels will open in Xiamen, Suzhou, Shi Jia Zhuang and two in Nanjing.

Speak about the new hotel signings, Managing Director of Accor Asia Pacific, Michael Issenberg, said that in addition to the Sofitel openings there would also be new Novotel, Mercure and Ibis hotels opening across China this year.

“There is unprecedented momentum occurring with China’s tourism, and while there is an aggressive and substantial building programme currently taking place, demand from both local and international travellers continues to grow rapidly,” said Mr Issenberg.

“This year occupancies across our China network are running at 74%, with our hotels in Beijing performing at over 90%. Our hotels in Hong Kong are also achieving 90% occupancies. Encouragingly – from an operators’ and owners’ point of view, we have also been able to raise our rates, though this only just partially compensates for the losses that were sustained during the SARS period.”

Mr Issenberg said that he was confident of announcing a new Novotel hotel for Hong Kong as well in the near future. Accor currently operates four hotels.

Mr Issenberg said that the growth in travel in China and Hong Kong was being fuelled by the strong economy, the increase in the number of Approved Destination Status countries, and the growth in airline services, especially low-lost air carriers.

“By the end of the decade, China will boast the world’s largest and most influential domestic, inbound and outbound markets,” he said.

“Hong Kong will continue to grow in importance as a key gateway city, but so will airports such as the new Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou, where Accor will operate a new Novotel hotel. 

“We are expanding our presence in the region across all brands, from our 5-star Sofitels to our 3-star Ibis hotels. Last year we added an extra wing to the Ibis North Point in Hong Kong and later this year the second Ibis in China will open in Chengdu, following the great success of Ibis Tianjin.

“The growth of Ibis reflects the vast increases in domestic and regional travel in China. We have used the Ibis Tianjin as a testing ground for the product and it has performed even more successfully than we anticipated. 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.

“Accor will also introduce its Mercure brand to China later in the year, and the benefit of having our four main hotel brands – Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis – present in the China market is that it will make these brands familiar for Chinese travellers visiting abroad.

“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 the new travellers in popular destinations such as Europe, Australia, Hong Kong and a number of Asian countries. Already we lead the way with hotels offering additional facilities and services for Chinese travellers, and we will continue to expand that policy.”

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