Accor added 14 hotels in South America in 2020 and plans to open 30 more this year

In a difficult year like 2020, with the pandemic affecting all sectors, with Tourism being one of the most economically impacted, Accor closed 2020 with results below 2019, as expected.

The group's consolidated revenues were 1,621 million euros in 2020, a decrease of 54.8% in comparable terms and 60.0% compared to 2019. In South America, revenues were 76 million euros, representing a decrease -58% like-for-like and -69% compared to 2019, as reported.

According to the global statement issued on February 24, Accor demonstrated resilience and adaptability to the challenges of the previous year, unprecedented in the history of tourism. And despite the consolidated results, it has been showing signs of recovery since the last quarter in South America, as well as Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

This impact on revenues is a reflection of the drop in RevPAR as a result of the various measures taken by governments in order to contain the contagion of the coronavirus. Thus, the decrease in RevPAR was 62% compared to 2019, in like-for-like terms, mainly due to the reduction in the occupancy rate, which was 32%.

In South America, the occupancy rate was 23%, a drop of 34 points compared to 2019, which was the main reason for the 61.9% reduction in RevPAR, in like-for-like terms, with a similar impact in all segments.

“Despite the figures that leave us at levels below those of recent years, we already had this vision that we would end the year in decline. However, we also bring good news from last year, such as openings and the launch of new services ”, said Thomas Dubaere, CEO of Accor for South America, who arrived in the region in October last year.

In 2020, 14 new hotels were opened in South America, equivalent to 1,800 rooms, and 13 new contracts were signed to provide a total of 1,565 new rooms, a rate similar to previous years. “South America is a very important region for Accor, where we are the market leader and, for the expansion of tourism, it has great growth potential in the leisure segment, with a unique natural beauty. For this reason, we are focused on continuing with our expansion plan in the region, which still has plenty of room for new hotels and excellent investment options. We already signed 3 new contracts in 2021 and we look forward to more to come ”, commented Dubaere.

In this sense, 30 openings are planned for the region this year, including SLS Puerto Madero (Argentina), Sofitel Barú (Colombia), MGallery Montevideo (Uruguay), Pullman Miraflores (Peru), Novotel and ibis Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) and in Brazil, Sofitel Ipanema, MGallery Pipa, Novotel São Paulo Jardins, Novotel Lençóis Paulista, JO & JOE Largo do Boticário and the Novotel BH Savassi and ibis budget BH Savassi combo.

During this year the focus is to expand the franchises and focus on the luxury and lifestyle categories. "We launched the expansion plan for South America called" 42k24 ", with the goal of reaching 42,000 franchised hotel rooms by 2024. We firmly believe in expanding our network with this strategy," adds Abel Castro, Senior Vice President of Development and New Business Accor South America.

Currently, the group has more than 62 thousand rooms in approximately 393 hotels, including 170 franchises. “In South America, more than 70% of hotels today are still independent. For this reason, there is a huge market, with a very great conversion potential and we believe that 2021 will be the year of franchises in tourism ”, commented Castro.

With these possibilities in mind, in 2021 Accor announced the arrival of the “By Mercure” concept in the region, an innovative brand, designed to host mid-scale quality hotels within the valued Mercure family. Thermas de Olímpia Resorts by Mercure, located in Olímpia, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, is the first hotel in the world to receive this designation.

The year 2021 also brought another novelty: the announcement of the ibis Styles Maragogi. Located in one of the most sought-after regions by Brazilian tourists, this first ibis Styles brand resort should start its activities in 2024.

The midscale and economic segments will also have news, with the forecast of 24 openings, three conversions, among them. In addition, there will be two reopening of hotels that have been remodeled: Mercure Rio de Janeiro Copacabana and Novotel Salvador. “We have good prospects with the news this year. We are reaching cities that did not yet have hotels with international standards, but that have a lot of tourism potential, ”says Olivier Hick, COO of Accor's midscale and economic brands in Brazil.

The launch of new products also yielded good results in 2020, such as Room-Office, Long Stay and Dark Kitchen in Brazil, which are now being rolled out throughout South America. The Room-Office was even so successful, with more than 1,200 nights sold, that it will be part of WOJO, a brand launched in Brazil earlier this year.

As a result, Accor hotels in Brazil now offer three services: WOJO SPOT, PRIVATE ROOMS BY WOJO and ROOM OFFICE BY WOJO. "Our goal is to launch the WOJO SPOT product in 100 hotels by the end of 2021 and, by 2022, we will have almost 100% of the Accor hotels in the country with this product in operation," said Hick.

And 2021 brought more news to South America, as well as to the entire Accor universe, with the announcement of the alliance with Faena, present in Buenos Aires and Miami, one of the brands with the greatest global impact in the hotel industry and in the segment of luxury lifestyle, with the aim of expanding the brand to strategic destinations around the world.

In addition to Faena, Accor's traditional luxury and lifestyle brands continue to grow in the region, with 6 openings scheduled for this year, one of them being a conversion. Important hotels in these segments such as Grand Mercure Recife and Grand Mercure Copacabana in Brazil and Pullman Vitacura in Santiago de Chile are also undergoing a refurbishment.

"With all these movements in recent years, our goal is to transform our brands into undisputed leaders in the luxury and lifestyle segment, turning them into providers of unforgettable experiences," said Philippe Trapp, COO of Accor's luxury and lifestyle brands at South America.

To support all these strategies, there is ALL: Accor Live Limitless, Accor's new lifestyle loyalty program that turned one year old in 2020. Already consolidated among the company's audiences, it now has the entire Accor brand portfolio in South America with the recent inclusion of ibis budget in its ecosystem. To get an idea, in 2020, 50% of the stays at Accor hotels in the region were ALL clients - Accor Live Limitless.

“ALL - Accor Live Limitless is very important to our strategy and 2021 will be no different. We will continue to innovate our program and offer more and more benefits to our members, with alliances, extended hospitality, offers in A&B and solutions to work, with WOJO, for example. We will also continue to rely heavily on travel agencies and agents ”, commented André Sena, CCO for Accor South America.

Featured by country:

Colombia
At the beginning of 2020, Accor opened ibis Budget Barranquilla (154 rooms) and ibis Chía, the brand's eighth hotel in the country (96 rooms), also announcing the arrival of the new JO & JOE brand in Medellín (54 rooms and 198 beds ) in the next years. After the health situation, most of the hotels closed their doors, however, Colombia recovered its activity with greater speed in the region.
Today they are all operating, except for Mercure Bogotá 100, which is undergoing renovation. Here, too, several hotels set up Room Office.
In relation to luxury brands, Sofitel Legend Santa Clara implemented the delivery of its restaurant and recently inaugurated its Apothecary Bar to provide a safe and open-air option to share. For its part, Sofitel Bogotá Victoria Regia reopened completely renovated. Both hotels were recognized internationally as the best in South America by Conde Nast Traveler.
For this 2021 the opening of ibis Budget Bogotá Marly (120 rooms) is planned and towards the end of the year, the expected Sofitel Barú (187 rooms). Today the company has 19 hotels in operation (2465 rooms) and 7 in project.

Argentina
At the beginning of 2020, Accor inaugurated the first ibis Styles in the country, ibis Styles Buenos Aires Florida. After the start of the pandemic, ibis Obelisco and ibis Congreso became health residences to receive COVID-19 patients, under the management of the local government. The hotels that remained open, in addition to implementing the ALL SAFE protocols, began to create other business opportunities such as MGallery Palladio Hotel, which launched its delivery or Novotel Buenos Aires, which developed the Room Office concept. Towards the last quarter of the year they began to reopen their doors.
At the beginning of this 2021, along with promoting hotel conversions to support independent local chains in difficulties due to the pandemic, the alliance of Accor with Faena, properties of Argentine origin, was announced, which opens a new growth opportunity for the lifestyle segment of luxury. Together, the goal is to develop the brand so that Faena reaches new destinations, such as Dubai.
Also in 2021, in the first semester the first SLS in South America will be inaugurated in Puerto Madero with 59 rooms. Today Accor has 12 hotels in operation with 1,580 rooms, 5 of them franchised and 7 managed.

Bolivia
In 2020 the operation in Bolivia began with the opening of Swissôtel in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (138 rooms) and in 2021 Ibis Santa Cruz de la Sierra (148 rooms) and Novotel Santa Cruz de la Sierra (144 rooms) will be inaugurated. adding more than 400 rooms to Accor's portfolio in the country.

Chile
During 2020, the renovations and redesign of the old Atton hotels, now Pullman Santiago Vitacura, Santiago El Bosque and Novotel Santiago Las Condes, began. In addition, Mercure Santiago Centro was transformed and Mercure Concepción (Ex Atton) was officially added to the portfolio that completed its rebranding stage. ”Since the pandemic, 6 hotels in the group have become Health Residences throughout Chile to support local authorities in the fight against COVID (ibis Valparaíso, ibis Copiapó, ibis Puerto Montt, ibis Iquique, Novotel Viña del Mar and recently ibis Calama). As part of the recognition of the hard work of the teams, ibis Copiapó was the first hotel of the group to be vaccinated by the health authorities ”, points out Franck Pruvost, COO Hispanic Countries Accor South America.
Here Mercure Concepción and Novotel Providencia stand out, which always kept their doors open by implementing the ALL SAFE protocols and the group's innovations such as Room Office.In September, the gradual reopening of other destinations began and today only Pullman El Bosque is closed to the public for its major remodeling. In addition, Pullman Vitacura launched its Long Stay program, while Novotel Santiago Providencia launched its new Burger v / s Pizza space.
Today the company has 23 hotels in operation, equivalent to 3,740 rooms and 10 under development.

Ecuador
There are currently 3 hotels operating in Ecuador, with 573 rooms, and two in the pipeline.

Paraguay
It has a hotel in operation in Franchise with ibis Asunción that has 120 rooms.

Peru
During 2020, ibis Styles Lima Miraflores Benavides opened with a design inspired by local culture and the Nazca lines and ibis Budget Lima Miraflores, the first of the brand in the country. Since the beginning of the pandemic, a new line of business has developed, providing accommodation to exclusive groups of essential companies that required this service for their workers, especially mining groups.
Peru's prolonged lockdown has led to a slower recovery compared to the rest of South America. Currently Pullman San Isidro is under renovation and for this 2021 the opening of ibis Styles Lima Blondet San Isidro (184 rooms) and Pullman Miraflores (237 rooms) is projected. There are currently 10 hotels in operation (1,685 rooms) and 7 in the project.

Uruguay
Uruguay has 4 hotels in operation, including the iconic Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco & Spa, which celebrates its 100-year history and ibis Montevideo, which launched the Room Office in the country. For this 2021 the opening of MGallery Montevideo with 92 rooms and inspired by the local urban culture is projected.

Hotels open in 2020 in South America:
ibis budget Barranquilla- Colombia
ibis Chía- Colombia
Novotel Criciúma - Brazil
ibis Ribeirão Preto Vila do Golf - Brazil
ibis Cuiabá Shopping - Brazil
ibis Ponta Grossa - Brazil
ibis Caucaia Porto de Pecém - Brazil
ibis budget Ribeirão Preto Vila do Golf - Brazil
ibis budget Leme - Brazil
ibis budget Salvador - Brazil
ibis Styles Lima Miraflores Benavides - Peru
Swissôtel Santa Cruz de La Sierra - Bolivia
ibis budget Lima Miraflores - Peru
ibis Styles Buenos Aires Florida - Argentina