Releasing its end of year figures, the French-owned operator reported that revpar in its UK hotels rose 5.7 per cent to £65 for its mid-scale sites last year and to £36 for its economy hotels, including Etap and Formule 1.
In the last quarter of the year, revenue was up 1.5 per cent in the mid and up-scale hotels and 3 per cent in the economy sites with London a key driver behind the growth. Room rates were significantly up in the capital and occupancy averaged 87 per cent in the City’s hotels in the last three months of 2011.
Double the UK estate by 2015
Accor are currently in the process of what they describe as an ‘ambitious and aggressive expansion strategy’, with plans to double their UK estate by 2015. Management contracts and franchise will make up the majority of the expansion.
Of the nearly 40,000 new hotel rooms that were opened worldwide last year by Accor, 2,700 of them came from a franchise deal in the UK that saw 24 hotels converted to the Mercure brand taking the number of hotels in the country to 157.
Worldwide, the group announced total revenue was up 5.2 per cent like for like in 2011 driven by improved occupancy rates and average room rates.
Accor currently operate over 4,000 hotels in 90 countries around the world.
Major re-brand
In September 2011 Accor, who also operate the Novotel and Ibis brands, announced a new company statement – ‘Open New Frontiers in Hospitality’ - and a re-brand plan to consolidate their economy hotels under an Ibis ‘mega brand’ by 2013.