Accor lifts local presence

Two recent purchases by international hotel chain Accor may signify a change of fortune for the state’s hotel sector.

The group bought Basildene Manor in Margaret River for $4.5 million, with the same amount set aside for extensions, and an 8,000 square metre site of land adjacent to the Accor-owned Novotel Vines Resort in the Swan Valley for $1.2 million. The site will be developed into a $12 million facility.

Accor is using the purchases to launch its Accor Premiere Vacation Club (APVC) time-share product in Western Australia.

To promote the APVC product in WA, an 800sq m office has been leased in the Lakeside Corporate Building in Herdsman for 30 new staff.

The Perth sales office will join seven other sales offices in cities across Australia to promote the APVC portfolio to members, currently numbering approximately 9,000.

APVC is a joint venture established between Accor and property developer Becton Corporation, and has been operating in Australia since 2000.

Accor has 4,000 hotels in 92 countries and runs hotels and resorts in Australia and New Zealand under Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, All Seasons, Ibis and Formule 1 brands.

The Accor Hotel Group, which has 14 hotels running under these various brand names in WA, also recently announced the re-branding of the 53-room Emerald Colonial Lodge in Margaret River as the All Seasons Margaret River. This follows the $13 million Accor has spent on refurbishments at two of its CBD hotels – the Novotel Langley Perth and Mercure Hotel Perth.

Emerald Colonial Lodge owner Greg O’Meara said it was expected the All Seasons branding would help attract new guests to the hotel.

“Margaret River has become a very popular destination for interstate and international travellers, so having an internationally recognised brand has become increasingly more important for hotels of our size and style,” Mr O’Meara said.

Accor Asia Pacific chief operating officer Jim Sabot said the company had been looking at WA for a long time and was aggressively making acquisitions across the country.

“We think there is a tremendous amount of interest in WA from the east coast and the feedback that we are getting is that Perth and WA are great places to holiday,” Mr Sabot said.

“We have historically been under-represented in WA, and in line with our plan to commence operations in Asia during 2006, it makes sense to have a presence in WA.”

Hotel consultant Alan Boys, principal of Hotel and Leisure Advisory, said the Perth hotel market had been struggling since 1997, but the active presence of an international chain such as Accor in the market indicated a certain level of confidence.

“It is fair to say that most international chains are under-represented in WA, and Accor must see the potential. If you look at places like the South West, there wasn’t even a major national operator until Mirvac Fini came in with Bunker Bay,” Mr Boys said.

“The city market is going quite well right now, with both occupancy and room rates rising. Outside Perth it is a bit of a mixed bag, some locations like the South West are going very well but they also have a lot of supply coming on.

“One of the weaknesses we have is the international inbound market into Perth, but with all the major international buyers in town this week for the Australian Tourism Exchange, there is the opportunity for a lot of exposure for WA.”