Who says that in Latin America the only good hotels are four-star or five-star places? Or that you should pay an arm and a leg to stay in a nice hotel in the region? Not the French hotel group Accor. The company wants to revolutionize the region's hospitality industry by expanding its three-star brand, Ibis, across the continent.
Accor executives say they will target the middle class, arguing that pretty and affordable hotels in countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela are few and far between. It will invest US$100 million to open 25 new Ibis-brand hotels in the region, on top of the 36 already operating. Expansion complements plans to boost existing operations in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, says Gilles Gonzalez Xerry, Accor's director of operations and development for the Andean region and Central America. Nevertheless, Accor will invest most heavily in China and Eastern Europe over the next eight years, where it will open 300 hotels with 600 rooms each.
The Ibis chain will match the level of service with the economic health of the countries without compromising quality, executives say. "That's key to our success," says Gonzalez. The hotelier is not going to build units in the wealthiest neighborhoods of Latin America's capital cities. In fact, it's going to target other cities in the countries where it will build. In the Andean region, for instance, construction on new hotels is already underway in four Ecuadoran cities alone--Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca and Manta--with local investors helping to foot the bill. Investments in Manta and Guayaquil are the closest to completion, with inauguration scheduled for 2007. Quito and Cuenca should open in 2008. Actor is not stopping with Ecuador; it's planning to invest $35 million in Venezuela, with its first hotel opening in Caracas by 2007. The company is in talks with investors to build hotels in Colombia and Peru as well.
Currently, Accor runs more than 4,000 hotels under nine brands in 90 countries on five continents, including those under the five-star Sofitel brand. The company says 56% of its total hotels are budget chains, which report occupancy rates of 75%. The daily fare for an Ibis room comes to $82 a night in France, $34 in Austria and $25 in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Ibis hotels in Andean countries will charge an average $35 a night. Accor came to Ecuador two years ago to manage the Alameda hotel in Quito, now known as Mercure Alameda.
