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Accor Asia Pacific and China National Aviation
Holding Company (Air China) and its affiliate, China National Aviation Holding Travel Service Company, have
signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
Accor and Air China will join forces in sales and marketing activities, such
as frequency programs, packaging of product, key account sharing, and market
research.
In addition, the parties will look at extending the partnership to hotel
management and co-branding to promote the two groups’ brands in both the
domestic and international markets. Accor will also be appointed the official
hotel partner to provide accommodation for Air China crewmembers around the world.
The agreement follows Accor’s announcement that it would open nine new
hotels before the end of 2004 to increase its China network to over 30 hotels
under the Sofitel, Novotel, Zenith, Century and Ibis brands.
China National Aviation Holding Company was established in October 2002 by
the merger of Air China and China Southwest Airlines. In addition to passenger services, China National Aviation has built a network of over 20
hotels across the country, as well as a strong presence in travel industry
services and freight forwarding.
Commenting on the signing, Accor Asia Pacific Chairman, David Baffsky, said
the agreement reflected the importance that Accor placed on China in its
future development strategy.
“China has a rapidly developing domestic market and, equally important, its
outbound market is one of the fastest growing in the world,” he said. “Accor
is a natural partner for Air China because of our extensive global hotel
network and our strength in the mid and economy sectors of the market, the
most popular sectors for China travellers.” |
