Even as the ongoing recession has forced most hotel groups across the world to go slow on expansion, Accor Hospitality said it will invest $130 million to come up with 50 hotels in India by 2012.
Accor is the largest hotel chain in Europe, with 4,000 hotels in 90 countries.
“The revenue of upscale and midscale hotels has been severely impacted due to the recession worldwide. However we are bullish on India’s growth prospects,” said Michael Issenberg, chairman and COO, Accor-Asia Pacific.
Accor currently operates five hotel properties and one convention centre in India, with a room inventory of 1,100. In the next three years, the company will have an inventory of 10,460 rooms in 50 hotels spread over 15 cities.
Said Uttam Dave, head of development for Accor’s hotels in India: “Room rentals have declined 10-15 per cent in the past one year and this is expected to continue for the coming few months. However, we see a positive growth in room rentals very soon.”
The company is also open to increasing its equity investment for the committed projects in the coming years if the need arrives, according to Issenberg.
