 "Accor Hotels to have around 80 hotels in India by 2020")
Global hospitality major Accor Hotels is planning to have around 80 hotels in India by the end of 2020 and is betting big on mid-scale and economy segments to be main drivers for its expansion in the country.
The France-based firm currently has 34 hotels across India under seven brands ranging from luxury to economy.
"We plan to have around 80 hotels in India by the end of 2020. We already have signed for 45 new hotels. India is one of the biggest countries in the world where we develop ourselves now, so it is a major commitment for us," Accor Hotels Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sebastien Bazin told PTI.
It is a major commitment in terms of development capacity and pool of talent, he added.
Out of the new hotels that the company is planning to open, around 10 will be under ibis brand, 10 will be Novotel while rest will be a combination of other brands, Bazin said.
The hotels will be in Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mumbai and other key tier I, tier II and tier III cities.
When asked about the segments that the company is looking to be main drivers for its future growth, he said: "I think India needs greater number of midscale and economy brands. Though we will be continuing with our upscale and luxury brands, main growth capacity for us is economy and midscale."
About the business model the company plans to follow in India, Bazin said: "In some of the hotels, Accor will be a co-participant, in many of those we will be a shareholder but not the only shareholder we will have local partners. But all the hotels will be managed by us."
The company opened two hotels, one Pullman and one Novotel, in New Delhi Aerocity yesterday, adding 670 rooms to the Accor Hotels profile in India.
Accor Hotels has around 3,800 hotels with nearly 5,00,000 rooms and around 1,80,000 employees in 94 countries with brands covering the full spectrum from luxury to economy.
