Accor has released a line-up of new hotel openings for this year, following what it describes as a “year of unprecedented challenges”. 

The hotel group stated that it “maintained a steady pace of development and continued to sign new projects” during the tumultuous year of 2020, resulting in a full schedule of hotel openings throughout 2021.

The hotel group revealed that the number of lifestyle hotel openings is expected to triple by 2023, with the lifestyle category currently accounting for roughly five per cent of the group’s annual revenue and 25 per cent of the company’s development pipeline by value.

Indeed, the group recently announced that it would join forces with UK-based developer Ennismore to create a new global lifestyle hotel company, comprising 12 brands.

The group also noted the importance of its luxury segment, with highlighted openings including the Banyan Tree Doha in Qatar, Raffles hotels in Udaipur and Jeddah, and an array of properties under the Fairmont brand.

These include Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles, Fairmont Windsor Park in England, Carton House, a Fairmont managed hotel in Dublin, Fairmont Ramla Riyadh, Fairmont Ambassador Seoul, and Fairmont Tagazhout Bay in Morocco. The Sofitel brand will also be brought to Seoul, Hangzhou and Adelaide. 

Accor states that conversion opportunities “will continue to be a growth driver in 2021 and beyond”, with brands The House of Originals, MGallery, Movenpick, Grand Mercure, Mercure, Ibis Styles and Greet making up 43 per cent of Accor’s opening pipeline over the next five years. Notable examples include the openings of Orchard Hills Residences Singapore – MGallery, The Silveri Hong Kong – MGallery, and The Porter House Hotel – MGallery in Sydney. 

Agnes Roquefort, Global Chief Development Officer at Accor, commented on the news:

“As we are all too familiar, 2020 had a profound impact on our day-to-day lives and the hospitality industry as a whole; even so, the early stages of a global rebound will be material and significant.

“Despite the delays and temporary closures we experienced due to the pandemic, we continued to experience sustained momentum across our development pipeline and are optimistic that the worldwide rollout of Covid-19 vaccines will lead to renewed trust in travel and a much greater sense of personal safety for the entire global population.”

all.accor.com