Accor to add 17 hotels in the region by 2012

Accor Hospitality Group plans to operate 50 hotels across the Middle East by 2012, adding 17 new properties to its current portfolio of 33 hotels. An Accor official has also confirmed with Emirates Business that 12 of these projects will be developed in the UAE alone, with two new brands debuting here.

"We have 17 hotels in active pipeline, a dozen of which will be developed in the UAE," Chief Operating Officer, MEA, Indian Ocean and Caribbean Islands, Charlie Langlais, told this newspaper. "Over the next few years, we estimate nearly 15 per cent of Accor's global development plan should be in the Middle East."

The group also announced the spilt of its confirmed pipeline would include 14 per cent economy hotels, 36 per cent midscale, 16 per cent upscale and 30 per cent of luxury properties.

"We are also introducing the Pullman brand this year in Dubai, a 481-room hotel that should open in July," said Christophe Landais, Accor Hospitality's Managing Director, Middle East. "The second Pullman should be opened by next year, " he said.

Also making its debut next year will be Adagio, Accor's hotel apartments concept, which will be located in Abu Dhabi.

"We are quite confident there is a market for hotel apartments in the capital and are excited to bring this brand here," said Landais.

Accor's expansion into Abu Dhabi even as the group announced a 40 per cent decline in a revPAR (revenue per available room) in the emirate during Q1 2010, compared to same period last year.

Landais explained: "This decline was recorded for two reasons, namely an increased in supply that took the count from 10,000 to 14,000 rooms in Abu Dhabi. Added to that was the recession that saw people spending less. Even Dubai was affected with a 15 per cent revPAR decline in 2009. But we see demand returning across the UAE and are quite bullish on the region as a whole."

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