Accor, Benthanh Group enter partnership for ibis hotel network

The global hotel management group Accor announced Wednesday a new partnership with Benthanh Group to develop a network of at least eight ibis hotels throughout the major cities of Vietnam as part of their recent agreement.
Patrick Basset, Accor vice president of operations for Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea, told the Daily that the group would manage the network of newly-built ibis hotels to be developed by Benthanh Group, a diversified investment corporation that focuses on tourism, trading service and real estate.
Basset explained to Accor’s ambition to manage many ibis properties in Vietnam that this worldwide economy hotel brand was suited to expansion in Vietnam to cater to the growing leisure and business travelers in this country.
“Vietnam is experiencing a period of consistently strong domestic growth and significant foreign investments. These factors are driving demand for business and leisure travel from both domestic and international markets,” Basset said.
Basset said the new network of ibis hotels under the management of the largest international hotel operator in Vietnam would provide a consistent and affordable accommodation option to travelers throughout the country.
The ibis hotel network will be developed based on the already-built cooperation between Accor and Benthanh Group. The partnership will result in the string of new ibis hotels in Vietnam’s major cities and provinces, including Hanoi, HCMC, Danang and Binh Duong.
“We announced earlier this year and have commenced construction of the ibis Saigon Centre in HCMC’s District 1, and anticipate that the hotel will open in 2012,” Nguyen Quang Tien, general director of Benthanh Group, said in a statement.
Basset said the ibis Saigon Centre would have 170 rooms and that the actual number of ibis hotels in the partnership with Benthanh Group was still under discussion.
Vietnam is expected to attract up to five million international visitors this year from 3.77 million last year. The medium-grade hotel segment still has great potential to offer, particularly the ibis brand, which stands for international quality accommodation with modern facilities and amenities along with efficient services.
“We see significant potential for expansion in the economy hotel sector in Vietnam and intend to secure a prominent presence in this segment of the hotel industry throughout the country,” Tien said.
In September 2010, Viethan Hotel Joint Stock Co. started work on its hotel project bearing the three-star brand Ibis in HCMC’s Saigon South. This US$11-million, 160-room property would be put into service in about 20 months’ time.
Accor was the first international hotel operator to open a permanent office in Vietnam when it established a representative office in HCMC in March 2008. The partnership with Benthanh Group helps Accor gradually realize its goal to almost triple the number of operational hotels under the hotel management group by the end of 2013.
Accor operates 11 hotels under the Sofitel, MGallery, Novotel, and Mercure hotel brands in HCMC, Hanoi, Halong and other locations in Vietnam. The remaining properties currently under construction will be up and running in a three years’ time.
Accor said additional hotels to be developed included three Pullman hotels, one MGallery, three Novotel, three Mercure and two ibis hotels.