Newstrack

Accor Hospitality confident of India market

SANJEEV BHAR - New Delhi

Jean-Michel Casse

At a time when most companies are treading carefully, Accor Hospitality is showing confidence in the India market by its continued investments in Indian projects whereas freezing those in China until 2011. Speaking exclusively to Express Hospitality, Jean-Michel Casse, VP - India Operations for the group talked about its assured investments and developments in India. "India market is unpredictable, yet there is a strong hope of demand resurgence in October - November this year due to its domestic resources. We are sure that the Accor developments are here to continue as even during these testing times, there is full support from the board of directors and chairman of the group for investments in India whereas the same has been frozen for until a year and a half in China," Casse remarked. Accor hotels group is investing in India through a joint venture with InterGlobe Hotels, a JV between InterGlobe Enterprises and Accor, for Ibis hotel brand in India, which is an exclusive partnership. He added, "The products we are developing in India are much more advanced than its existing European properties and we are consciously putting efforts in developing them." The short term target for the company is to have 30 hotels under its operations, under different brands by 2011. Accor has also successfully bid for two sites at Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) proposed hotel district development, for which market feasibility study is being carried out to identify the right brand positioning, informed Casse. He refused to divulge investment details.

On the expansion front, Accor is developing various brands through management tie-ups with various groups for hotels as well as serviced apartments, apart from 14 Ibis properties in various cities. The company is opening Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach in July 2009. This will be third Novotel property in the country, after Novotel Hyderabad Airport and Novotel Hyderabad, having 203 keys with four restaurants and maintaining manpower ratio of 1.6 per room. "By December this year, we expect to achieve occupancy of this managed property at par with other hotels in the city," informed Casse. The group has committed to open 15 Novotel hotels in India by 2012. On the other hand, the group is also progressing with its budget brand Formule1. "We have committed nine Formule1 developments in Tier I cities including one in Thiruvananthapuram, and targeting to add 10 new deals each year for this brand as we move ahead." The first Formule1 brand will be operational by the second half of 2010 in Pune, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

Accor Hospitality also brought its mid scale Mercure brand to India. It has announced four new projects under Mercure brand. Mercure's first management tie-up with Brigade Hospitality in Bengaluru for Mercure Bangalore Homestead Residences focuses on serviced apartments. "There is a need for serviced apartments in India and we will be happy to partner with other interested developers for managing serviced apartments," Casse told. He also confirmed that the group does not have any current plans to bring the All Seasons brand to India. "It is a franchise brand and at the moment our focus entirely lies on the management aspects of operation and identifying customers with Accor brand here," he added. Accor has already divulged plans to develop its other brands like Sofitel and Pullman, apart from managing convention centres in India.

On managing its properties in India, Accor has taken a decision to train managers for top positions from within to address the group's stringent brand philosophy and strategy need in India, looking at future demand for manpower. "Our different brands have different approach. We look at empowering skills to remove layers, for example, in Ibis and for Novotel, Mercure and Formule1, we just cannot take anybody who doesn't understand their brand structure. To inculcate that understanding, we plan to conduct training for employees of the hotels so that they can be groomed to manage properties as we expand, in future," explained Casse.

The group has already planned for a training university Accor Academie, the plans for which will be frozen in 2010 and would be established the following year with a possible partnership along with an Indian hotel management institute. "We want to take this step to get more Indians for the management level by first getting them trained, positioning them in the European market and bring them back to manage properties here," he said. The Accor Academie will be established in Bengaluru, Hyderabad or Delhi, depending on the volume of people (employees) the group will command in the said cities.