ACCOR TO MANAGE GREAT! KEPPEL ISLAND RESORT

Resort to be rebranded Mercure Resort after major refurbishment

Accor has been appointed managers of the popular north Queensland resort, Great! Keppel island. The resort will be rebranded a Mercure Resort following an extensive $3 million refurbishment programme. The resort, owned since 1998 by local entrepreneurs Ron Hancock and Bevan Whittaker, will undergo a major upgrade of all rooms, public areas and landscaping. It is anticipated that the island will be officially relaunched in October 2001, after the upgrade is completed.

The Mercure Resort Great! Keppel Island will join a network of over 40 Mercure hotels and resorts in Australia, including the Mercure Resort Surfers Paradise, one of the country's most successful family resorts. Accor is the leading resort operator in Australia, with resorts in prime resort locations such as Queensland's Palm Cove, Daydream Island, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast, NSW's Coffs Harbour and Lake Crackenback, South Australia's Barossa Valley and Western Australia's Swan Valley.

Great! Keppel Island was visited by Captain James Cook on his pioneering expedition to Australia in 1770, and has been operating as a resort since 1967. The island is located 12 kilometres off the Queensland coast, close to the Great Barrier Reef, and is accessed via ferry or plane from Rockhampton.

The island boasts 28 kilometres of white sandy beaches, acres of natural bushland and secluded bays.

The 192-room resort offers four levels of accommodation, five swimming pools, two spas, a wide range of restaurants, bars and entertainment facilities, a kids club and some 40 sporting and leisure activities (including a 9-hole golf course).

Great! Keppel Island will receive Accor's Coralia tag, which is attached to over 100 resorts worldwide. Every Coralia resort offers its guests the opportunity to discover the special identity of the destination through the hotel's ambience and activities.

Announcing the agreement today, resort owners Ron Hancock and Bevan Whittaker, said: "We believe that Great Keppel is one of the finest island resorts in Queensland, with the advantage of superb beaches and close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef.

"With the refurbishment plans drawn up, we saw it as a good opportunity to bring in a global hotel operator with internationally-recognised branding and marketing support to make the most of the resort's potential. Accor will now be involved in the implementation of the refurbishment programme, as well as the introduction of new operating concepts to further enhance guest satisfaction."

Accor's Managing Director Australia, Michael Issenberg, said that the company could provide major benefits to the operation of the island resort. "The timing is good because with the Australian dollar at its current level, Australians will increasingly look towards domestic holidays where their dollar still has buying power. Additionally, the See Australia campaign - for which Accor is a premium sponsor - is having a significant effect in encouraging local holidays, so we are confident that when the refurbishment is completed we will have a major impact on the resort's operation.

"While principally a domestic leisure destination, we will be working actively with wholesalers and Tourism Queensland to build the resort's international profile, especially in Europe and America, which already have a good knowledge of Australia and have the advantage of strong currencies."

The announcement of the Mercure Resort Great! Keppel Island follows the recent rebranding to Mercure of six Fortland hotels in regional Queensland and Northern Territory. The Mercure brand is now the most prominent in Queensland, with hotels and resorts in Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay, Mt Isa, Toowoomba, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.