DUBAI: Leading hotel chain Accor is hoping to boost its presence in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this year with the opening of 10 new hotels. Managing Director Christophe Landais said in a press statement to Hotelier Middle East that the move will increase room capacity for the hotel giant by 2,800 rooms and increase their regional network to 65 hotels. The 10 hotels will be across all markets, from economy to luxury, and include brands such as Ibis, Novotel and Sofitel. Eight of the 10 upcoming hotels will be in the UAE. These include: Ibis Abu Dhabi Gate, Novotel Abu Dhabi Gate, Sofitel Abu Dhabi Corniche, Mercure Dubai Gold Jumeirah, Novotel Abu Dhabi Al Bostan, Adagio Abu Dhabi Al Bostan, Pullman Dubai Jumeirah Lake and Novotel Dubai Al Barsha. Two Ibis hotels will launch in Saudi Arabia; the 176-room Ibis Riyadh Olaya Street and the 196-room Ibis Yanbu. The expansion “will reinforce Accor's position as one of the leading hotel operators in the region,” said Landais. In terms of future development, Accor will “focus and further expend on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar for its economy brands with Ibis and mid-scale with Novotel,” he added. In Dubai, one Canadian hotel executive told Bikyamasr.com that “as a result of Egypt and North Africa's turmoil we are all looking to boost our presence in the more stable places in the region, especially the Emirates because of their higher value customer.” Accor is also looking to boost its social media and marketing presence in the region through new technologies. “With the evolution of technology, we predict more and more digital solutions. 2012 will be a landmark year for digital marketing,” said Landais. “We recently launched our new ‘geo-localised' website, Accorhotels.com, which has been operational since July 2011. It is already attracting more online guests from the region generating more bookings. “With the launch of the latest version of Accorhotels.com, we have observed a significant increase in our online bookings with approximately 30 percent increase. More than 800,000 users are currently going online, surfing our new improved website. By end of 2011, we will nearly reach 1,000,000 users in the Middle East.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/Pxrfr Tags: Accor, Dubai, Hotels, Ibis Section: Saudi Arabia, Travel, United Arab Emirates
