Accor Takes a Major Step in its Expansion in India

As part of its global development strategy aiming at opening 200,000 new hotel rooms by 2010, of which 60% in emerging markets, Accor has signed today significant partnerships that trigger a major expansion in India. This expansion plan covers the full spectrum of the hotel market in India, including budget Formule 1 hotels, economy Ibis hotels, mid-market Novotel hotels and upper-upscale Sofitel properties. 

Budget and Economy Hotels: Formule 1 and Ibis Gilles Pélisson, Chief Executive Officer, Accor, and HE Mohammed Ali Alabbar, Chairman, EMAAR Properties, signed today an agreement to develop 100 Formule 1 hotels in India. This agreement will involve a joint investment of US$300 million in phases. These hotels will be located in city locations and will feature upwards of 80 rooms with en suite bathrooms, restaurant and a 24-hour reception service (*). Sites for the hotels are currently being finalized and 10 hotels are scheduled to open in the next two years.
 

Accor’s partner, the Dubai-based EMAAR group, is one of the world’s largest property developers, who has worked with Accor on a number of projects in the Middle East. The EMAAR group has already developed in India the Novotel Hyderabad and Hyderabad International Convention Centre that Accor manages.

 

Moreover, Accor and its joint-venture partner InterGlobe are also developing a network of Ibis hotels around the country. Projects include, in addition to a complex combining Ibis and Novotel in Bangalore (380 rooms), hotels in five key business centres – Gurgaon, Mumbai, Pune, Jaipur and Hyderabad. 

 

By the end of 2007, Accor and InterGlobe expect to have up to 15 Ibis hotels (2,700 rooms) under development, for a total investment of US$ 180 million. Midscale hotels: Novotel and Mercure Accor will expand its Novotel brand in India. A Novotel is presently under construction in Gurgaon, a business precinct of New Delhi. The 320 room hotel will be managed by Accor and is scheduled to open in mid 2008. Accor currently manages Novotel Hyderabad adjacent to the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, opened earlier this year.
 

Accor is in discussion with leading Indian business groups for a variety of developments, including the launch of the Mercure brand in India. 

Formule 1 hotels were first developed in Europe to offer a budget accommodation with bathrooms outside the room. The brand and accommodation offer have evolved internationally over the years and offer today, for the newest developments, an en suite bathroom and a restaurant (Australia, Brazil notably).