This week, Accor opens its latest 2-star Formule 1 motel at Casula in western Sydney, while construction will commence this week on a Formule 1 at Melbourne Airport and a 3-star Ibis in Newcastle. In addition, two further Ibis hotels - at Glen Waverley in Melbourne and Thornleigh in Sydney - are scheduled for development later this year.
 

Accor now operates 7 Ibis hotels and 12 Formule 1 motels, and the company predicts that expansion of the brands in Australia will continue despite the difficult economic conditions. "In fact, in many ways it is because of the difficult economic climate that these brands are doing so

"We identified the economy hotel sector as the largest potential growth market back in the mid-1990s. Most new international and domestic travellers are looking for economy air and hotel options, and yet only a small percentage of hotels have been developed specifically to meet the needs of this sector. Ibis and Formule 1 have struck a chord with both leisure and business travellers, especially with their fixed-price rate policy.

"The availability of lower-priced domestic airfares has spurred on the domestic leisure market as well as encouraged small-business to travel more, while many larger companies have instigated new travel procedures encouraging employees to stay in mid-market hotels. All of which has helped boost our brands."

Formule 1 Casula is the fifth F1 in Sydney. It is located - like all other F1s - on a major arterial route (Hume Highway), close to western Sydney's main commercial and industrial areas. The Formule 1 brand is the best performing international hotel brand in Sydney.

Formule 1 Melbourne Airport begins construction this week on a site within easy walking distance of the airport terminals. The 74-room F1 will be completed by the end of the year and will join the F1 Brisbane Airport and Hotel Ibis Sydney Airport in Accor's network of good-value airport accommodation options. With the F1 Melbourne Airport scheduled to offer rates at AUD$59 per room for three people, it will be some AUD$200 under the rack-rate of the nearest alternative hotel situated at the airport.

Hotel Ibis Newcastle will also commence construction this week in a prime site on the city's major street, Hunter Street. The 101 room hotel is scheduled to open in the first half of 2002, and will complement Accor's other economy hotel product in Newcastle, Formule 1 Wallsend.

Accor is the worldwide leader in travel, tourism and corporate services, employing 145,000 employees in 140 countries.