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Accor
has had a turbulent time establishing its mid market Mercure brand in
the Thai market. Recently Accor quietly finished its management contract
with the Mercure Resort Koh Samui which leaves the hotel company with only one
remaining Mercure in Thailand - the Mercure Chonburi. In
a press conference late last week, Mr Michael Issenberg, Managing
Director Asia Pacific, Accor confirmed that this was about to change
with new properties already confirmed and others in the pipeline to meet growing demand for quality three star hotels. Mr
Issenberg said, "We have work to do with the Mercure brand. We have
been very successful with the Sofitel and Novotel brands in Thailand but
have not been with Mercure". One
of the confirmed hotels is a 200 room new build property, which will be
branded a Mercure. Costing approximately US$ 4 million the new hotel
will be located in bustling Pattaya and is expected to open late 2004. Another
property which has not yet been confirmed but looks likely, is a new
Mercure for the North West region of Thailand. This hotel is to be a
conversion of an existing property and is expected to take three months
to convert to Mercure standards. Mr
Issenberg said he expects Accor to have between 20 to 25 new hotels in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of next year with around five new properties in Thailand
alone. He added that Accor would love to have more than one Mercure
in Bangkok, and that while location still makes the difference choosing
the right partners to work with is the key. |
