Accor signs 10 new management contracts in Indonesia

Accor has affirmed its confidence in Indonesia and Bali tourism with the announcement of 10 new management contracts, the single largest consolidation of hotels by an international hotel management company in the country.

With these new contracts Accor will now manage a total of 32 hotels around Indonesia under its Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis brands.

Five key properties owned by leading Indonesian hospitality company, Jakarta Setiabudi International Tbk, will make up half of the new additions. The 196-room Raddin Sanur - Bali will be Accor's third hotel on the resort island and reinforces the company's strong commitment to Bali's ongoing tourism recovery.

The other four properties are in Jakarta, including two hotels and two service apartments (associate properties managed by Accor). The 415-room Horison Ancol and 292-room Raddin Ancol are both located beside Jakarta's Taman Impian Jaya Ancol theme park near the city's coastal area. The 105-unit Kuningan Apartment is located near the central business district, and the 87-unit Setiabudi Apartment in Jakarta's Golden  Triangle district, complete the offering.

The hotels will be rebranded to Accor brands following the completion of refurbishment projects to each hotel.

Another key addition will be the historic 142-room Phoenix Yogyakarta hotel, which will be rebranded the Mercure Phoenix Yogyakarta by October 2003 after an extensive renovation programme.

Accor has also signed management contracts for two additional Novotel hotels in the Indonesian commercial centres of Palembang in southern Sumatra and Semarang in central Java. Novotel Palembang and Novotel  Semarang will bring the total number of Novotels in Indonesia to 12.

Finally, Accor will add two new Ibis hotels in Bandung and Pekan Baru in 2004 bringing the total number of Ibis hotels in Indonesia to 10, the most Asia.

Accor Director of Operations - Indonesia, Mr Gérard Guillouet, said this important announcement was well timed to support Indonesia's tourism industry and to assist Bali's recovery from the affects of the October 2002 bombing.

" The country is an important part of Accor's expansion in Asia Pacific and our next objective will be to bring our luxury Sofitel brand to Indonesia.

"Despite challenges in both regional and global tourism, Accor has full confidence in Indonesia and we are delighted to add these new hotels to our growing network.

"Accor has managed to maintain its growth in Indonesia because of our balanced portfolio. The fact that a majority of our hotels are in the mid and economy sectors has enabled us to attract a large and growing domestic and regional market, which has largely been insulated from the international downturn. The Jakarta Setiabudi International Tbk properties and the other new hotels joining the Accor network will consolidate this position, and we anticipate even further growth to the group in the next few years "

Accor has been actively involved in Indonesia for over a decade with hotels in most of the major centres including Jakarta, Bali, Lombok, Surabaya, Bogor, Solo, Yogyakarta, Medan, Batam, Jambi, Bukittinggi, Toraja, Banten and Bekasi.