Australia the target of Accor hotels expansion in Asia Pacific

Hotel giant Accor plans to open 9,000 hotel rooms in the Asia-Pacific region in 2012, mostly in Australia, following its acquisition of the Mirvac hotel portfolio. 

In December Accor acquired Mirvac hotel portfolio for $327 million, comprising about 6,100 hotel rooms. 

Hotels in the portfolio include the Quay West hotels, the Quay Grand at Circular Quay in Sydney as well as the Sebel hotels in Newcastle and Mandurah in Western Australia. 

On the back of reporting an 18% rise pre-tax operating profit to €446 million ($556 million), Denis Hennequin, Accor’s chairman and CEO, says the group easily exceeded its expansion target of 35,000 new rooms in 2011 and aims to add a further 40,000 rooms this year.

“The Asia-Pacific region will represent about 45% of Accor’s pipeline of development in 2012,” he says. 

Accor manages about hotels in Australia, with brands including Sofitel, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis. It also owns a fifth of hotel owner Tourism Asset Holdings Ltd and runs most of its assets. 

Accor has 104,000 rooms (609 hotels) in the works, and 45% are planned for Asia Pacific. 

During the year, Accor opened a record 38,700 rooms, mainly under franchise and management contracts. 

Of the total number of new rooms, 47% were located in Europe and 33% in the Asia-Pacific region, consolidating its leadership positions in these geographies. 

By the end of 2011, the group's hotel base stood at 531,700 rooms, half of which were operated under franchise and management contracts.