Paul Stevens
THE recovery of the Russian market, coupled with the Chinese tourist wave and a steadily growing domestic base, are giving strong impetus for AccorHotel’s expansion plans in Thailand, particularly in the economy hotel segment.
Boasting a current supply of 68 hotels and 15,946 rooms in Thailand, the French hospitality giant has 17 hotels and 4,099 rooms in its Thai development pipeline through 2019, revealed Paul Stevens, vice president operations Novotel, Mercure, ibis for AccorHotels Upper South-east Asia at a press conference yesterday to commemorate the eighth anniversary of ibis’ launch in the country.
Notably, ibis Styles (one of the three ibis brands) will take up a significant chunk of the new-builds in the next few years with nine properties, while three Novotels, one Mgallery by Sofitel, one Sofitel, two Mercures and one ibis make up the remainder.
The prominence of ibis Styles in the Thai pipeline reflects “good traction” for Accor’s relatively newer economy hotel brand, Stevens remarked, and underlines the increasing role that design-oriented stays are playing for some hotel owners and markets. There is no plan yet for ibis budget in Thailand, he added.
Bangkok will account for half of the upcoming properties, which include the 177-room ibis Styles Bangkok Sukhumvit 50 (4Q2016), 236-room Mercure Bangkok Sukhumvit 11 (2017) and 600-room ibis Bangkok Impact (2018/2019).
Beyond the capital city, the beach resort destinations will see the rise of the 137-room ibis Styles Phuket Phokeethra (3Q2016), 303-room Novotel Sriracha Marina Bay (2018) and 83-room So Sofitel Samui (2018/2019), among others.
The “generally healthy” economy hotel sector has translated into “pretty good performance” for the 11 ibis hotels in Thailand so far this year, commented Youssef El Khomri, executive general manager of ibis Hotels Thailand.
ibis hotels in Thailand recorded an average occupancy of 85 per cent from January-July 2016, a seven point growth from 77 per cent for the same period last year. Meanwhile, RevPar hiked 14.9 per cent while the number of rooms sold grew 10 per cent, he elaborated.
“The Russian market was a bit soft over the last two years, but we are seeing good recovery in Q3 and expect a recovery by this year-end,” Youssef added. “We saw a few cancellations for Hua Hin in August and September, but expect no long-term impacts.”
Elsewhere in South-east Asia, Indonesia also presents “amazing pipeline for ibis and ibis Styles” with around 40 properties in the pipeline, Stevens shared. South Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam are also destinations where Accor has an active pipeline for the ibis brand, he added.
According to Stevens, there are already 153 hotels and 26,781 rooms under the ibis brand in Asia-Pacific, with another 11,100 rooms projected in the next few years.
As well, Accor’s recent acquisitions – namely Raffles, Fairmont and Onefinestay – have expanded its portfolio in the upper and upper-upscale segments, and there is a strong likelihood of introducing new brands such as Mama Shelter into Asia, hinted Stevens.
