Global hospitality major Accor expects its total investment in India to touch $1.15 billion by 2015.
“We hope to have at least 90 hotels planned or under construction in India by 2015,” Mr Denis Hennequin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Accor, told Business Line . The plan is to have 20,000 keys (rooms) in India by 2015, he said. Before the end of this year, it will have 23 operating hotels in India.
Accor is bullish about accelerating growth outside of Europe and is excited about the Asia-Pacific market, he said. According to him, out of the group's 39,000 rooms worldwide, over 12,000 are in this region. There are 1.1 lakh upcoming rooms for the group globally, of which about 45 per cent is in this region.
In India, Accor wants to focus on the three large markets — Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, where 75 per cent of its new launches would be located. Currently, the group follows the management contract route for India, and Mr Hennequin expected franchising to come in the next stage. He said because of infrastructure bottlenecks dogging the country, the construction time and costs are 2-2.5 times more than most parts of the world.
Accor wants to increasingly position itself as a ‘Born in France, Made in India' hotel, and “it is important to learn to adapt/adopt our brands to be relevant to Indian guests”, said Mr Hennequin. For instance, the Ibis Hotel, Accor's economy brand, which is “a little bland elsewhere looks vibrant and colourful in India, and offers food and beverages, meeting room and fitness facilities in the property, not the case in other markets,” he pointed out.
Bangalore
Accor group, which has three Ibis hotel properties and one Novotel brand hotel in Bangalore, would have another six properties by 2015. These would be across micro-markets and brand categories, said Mr Hennequin. The group has opened 850 keys in the city, and has another 1,100-1,200 keys committed. “We have a 10 per cent market share in Bangalore currently,” he said.