Tag Archives: Raffles

Affirming India to be a major focus area in the Asia Pacific region for AccorHotels, Gaurav Bhushan, Global Chief Development Officer, AccorHotels, reveals that the company is bringing its luxury brands into India this year. “We have a very interesting line up in 2018 for our luxury and leisure hotel brands. Raffles, Fairmont and Banyan Tree are the brands that we are bringing into India. We are very excited about the opportunity. While the mid scale segment is increasing steadily and doing well, there is also a very big opportunity in the luxury, the lifestyle and the leisure space. That is the new frontier from our perspective.” He adds that the company expects to add five hotels with an approximate key count of 1,000-plus rooms to its network in 2018. “We already have 45 operating hotels in India and are actively signing up new hotels. So India is a major focus for us in the Asia Pacific region. And we expect our growth to be very strong and very robust in the next few years,” Bhushan says.

AccorHotels Group officially announced the acquisition of FRHI Hotels & Resorts (FRHI) and its three prestigious luxury hotel brands: Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel. Following the approval of shareholders at the General Shareholders Meeting on July 12, 2016, the transaction with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) of Saudi Arabia provided $840 million (€768 million) cash payment and the issuance of 46.7 million AccorHotels shares in consideration for the contributed FRHI shares. Joining AccorHotels’ global network is a portfolio of globally admired brands, which includes management of many of the world’s most iconic and historic hotels located in key strategic cities around the world, including: The Savoy in London, Raffles Singapore, Fairmont San Francisco, New York’s The Plaza, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City, and Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris. The transaction gives QIA and KHC respective stakes of 10.4% and 5.8% in Accor’s share capital. Ali Bouzarif and Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo from QIA and Sarmad Zok from KHC will now join AccorHotels’ Board of Directors. AccorHotels plans to generate approximately €65 million in revenue and cost synergies thanks to the combination of brands, the maximization of hotel earnings, the increased efficiency of marketing, sales and distribution channel initiatives, and the optimization of support costs. Significant enhancements will also be made in terms of customer data, thanks to the integration of FRHI’s customer base that includes three million loyalty members, of which 75 percent are in North America.This addition of three remarkable brands instantly positions AccorHotels as a leading player in the global luxury hotel market, increases long term growth potential and profitability, and significantly expands the company’s footprint in North America, the world’s largest and most …