Despite a global pandemic, Accor SE Asia, Japan & South Korea has opened 21 hotels and signed over 9,000 new rooms in 12 countries, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Madlives, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam.
According to the latest report by Horwarth HTL, that is more new hotel rooms than any other hotel operator in the region for 2020. Vietnam leads the way, with 12 hotels, while Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan also showed strong growth for the Group. This represented Accor’s second-best year on record in terms of keys signed, despite the impact of Covid-19.
The signings will see new lifestyle brands enter the region, in line with the group’s strategy to increase its footprint in luxury and premium hotels. Flagship hotels include projects across the Fairmont, Pullman, Swissotel and Sofitel brands. In addition, Accor will introduce new brands to the region including Rixos all-inclusive resorts, Tribe boutique lifestyle hotels, and Hyde premium lifestyle hotels and resorts.
Accor SE Asia, Japan & South Korea CEO, Garth Simmons, said “The fact that our Development team can continue to deliver great signings in the midst of the worst crisis the travel industry has ever seen, shows that owners have confidence in the long-term future of tourism and that our world-class brands, powerful distribution platforms and ALL lifestyle loyalty programme continue to drive value for our owners and guests as the industry recovers.”
“While this past year has been tough, the longer this crisis continues, the larger the appetite for travel grows and we are convinced that when people can travel again, there will be huge demand.
“Pipeline growth is the foundation of our success and I am excited by the quantity of projects being signed, but more importantly, by the quality of the hotels and resorts being delivered, which gives me great confidence that the future of travel is very bright.”
Some of the Group’s most exciting SE Asia openings for 2020 included Raffles Bali, Indonesia; Mondrian Seoul Itaewon, South Korea; Pullman Khao Lake Resort, Thailand; Pullman Phu Quoc Beach Resort, Vietnam; MGallery Hotel Perle D’Orient Cat Ba, Vietnam; and Mercure Kyoto Station, Japan.
Future openings include the Sofitel Hanoi EcoPark Resort & Spa & Sofitel Residences EcoPark Hanoi, Vietnam; Swissotel Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia; Pullman Okinawa Urasoe, Japan; Hyde Resort Hoi An Hotel & Residences; and Mondrian Residences Hoi An.
On a global front, Accor opened 81 hotels around the world in 2020, representing 29,0000 rooms, of which 21 hotels and 4,438 rooms were in SE Asia (15%).
Accor is forecasting to open 31 hotels in 2021 and in the first quarter has opened the landmark Fairmont Ambassador Seoul, South Korea; Pullman Khao Lak Resort; and Ibis Budget Singapore Clarke Quay.
Accor continues to adapt to meet changing customer demand, including increased offerings in luxury and lifestyle, wellness, F&B and workspitality spaces so that when international travel resumes, it will be well placed to continue apace with its development. It is expected that SE Asia will lead the way in terms of growth with 150 projects in the pipeline.
