BANGKOK 2 March 2006 - Accor has signed a landmark agreement
for 6 new Ibis hotels in Sichuan province, the largest single expansion
of Accor�s economy brand in one province of China. The six hotels will
be developed at a cost of US$150 million.
The agreement was signed by new Accor CEO Gilles Pélisson for
3 Ibis hotels in Chengdu, plus 3 additional hotels in nearby cities Yi
Bing, Ya An and De Yang in Sichuan Province. Also present for the
historic event were Accor Asia Pacific�s Chairman, David Baffsky, and Managing
Director, Michael Issenberg, and Accor�s General Delegate � China, Shangzhi
Zhang, who is pioneering the development of the Ibis brand in China.
Accor is accelerating development of its economy-hotel sector throughout
Asia Pacific the opening of two Ibis hotels in Bangkok, two in Ibis in
Australia, one in New Zealand and a new Ibis for the Korean capital of
Seoul.
Next month Accor opens its third Ibis in China, 172-room Ibis Qingdao,
which follows the successful opening of the 265-room Ibis Chengdu, last
October. The first project � Ibis Tianjin - is opening a 70 room extension
to the hotel the end of April. Both hotels have been performing strongly
at occupancy levels of over 90% since opening.
During 2006 Accor also plans to open new Ibis hotels in Chongqing,
Wuhan, Wuxi and Zhongshan with more openings in 2007 and beyond.
Accor CEO Gilles Pélisson hailed the signing as a major milestone
for the pace of Ibis development in China.
�We consider China to be one of the most important countries for our
group�s global development and this agreement reflects our commitment to
building a network of Ibis hotels around China,� said Mr Pelisson.
�China is undergoing profound economic change. During my recent visit
I was impressed by the potential of Sichuan province. It is a dynamic region
and we believe that a network of up to 20 Ibis hotels could be developed
in this area alone.�
Accor Asia Pacific Chairman, Mr David Baffsky, said: �The largest growth
in travel in Asia comes from domestic and regional travellers who will
be looking for quality, well-priced accommodation, preferably with international
branding. Ibis is pioneering this market sector in Asia and with demand
set to grow even more strongly with the advent of new low-cost air-carriers
and advanced transport links, we believe there is excellent potential for
significant growth in the Ibis network.�
Over 2,500 of Accor�s total of 4,000 hotels are in the economy hotel
sector and the group�s balanced hotel portfolio has been a principal reason
for Accor outperforming its global hotel competitors (who rely more on
upscale hotels) over the past few years.
With 168,000 employees in 140 countries, Accor is the European leader
and one of the world's largest groups in travel, tourism and corporate
services.
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