International hotel operator Accor now operates over 100,000 rooms in the region, with the opening of ibis Hong Kong Central and Sheung Wan.

“The Asia-Pacific region is one of Accor’s strategic growth markets, and I congratulate the regional team and our partners on passing the key milestone of 100,000 rooms in the region,” commented Denis Hennequin, Accor’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

“Asia-Pacific presents tremendous opportunities for expansion, given the region’s dynamic economic development and rapidly growing middle class leading to many more people travelling today than ever before.

“We are committed to offering our customers more choice in consistently high quality accommodation in the region.”

Accor Asia-Pacific Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Michael Issenberg revealed: “Today, Accor operates 536 hotels in 16 countries in Asia-Pacific and is the market leader in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam. I am proud to announce that Accor’s network has grown beyond 100,000 rooms in Asia-Pacific, with the opening of ibis Hong Kong Central and Sheung Wan.”

The growing demand for international-standard, value-for-money economy hotels led Accor to commission the Asia Economy Hotels Research 2012, the findings of which Mr. Issenberg also revealed at the same conference.

The study surveyed business and leisure travellers from eight key markets in Asia to gather insights into the differing attitudes towards economy hotels.

According to the research, six in ten travellers in Asia prefer international economy hotel brands to domestic brands and assign different “personalities” to them. International brands were considered “stylish, high-class, reliable, attractive and energetic” compared to domestic brands, which tended to be viewed as “down-to-earth, practical, approachable, and considerate.”

“The Asia Economy Hotels Research will help us better understand what our guests expect of our economy hotel brands.

“For example, we learned that guests are willing to spend more per night to stay at an international over a domestic brand economy hotel – in some markets nearly 90 percent more,” said Mr. Issenberg.

“However, we also learned that they trust our brands to deliver more value for money – in terms of professionalism, comfort and amenities. We are now analyzing the findings to see how we can better live
up to the expectations of travellers in each of our different markets, but early indications suggest we are on the right track with our ibis family of brands.”

The ibis brand family covers Accor’s economy and budget offering and consists of three complementary brands – ibis, ibis Styles (formerly all Seasons) and ibis budget (formerly Formule 1) – each with its own personality.