Conquering the Indian subcontinent: international hotel groups are looking for the key to penetrating a huge but elusive market. Accor hopes to have found it with the conclusion of a major partnership. with the local leader in the travel sectorthe InterGlobe conglomerate. In addition to its hotel activities, marked by the development of some twenty ibis in India and the roll-out of its own Miiro brand outside the country, InterGlobe is the main shareholder in IndiGo, India's largest airline, with a fleet of over 400 aircraft serving 130 destinations.
Continuing the relationship that has existed between the two parties for several years, this strategic alliance will result in the creation of a joint, autonomous platform. As well as consolidating existing assets and concentrating hotel management operations, this new entity will above all the development vehicle for all Accor brands in Indiaincluding Ennismore's lifestyle brands. At the same time, Accor and InterGlobe will jointly become the main shareholder in Treebo, which operates 800 budget hotels in 120 Indian cities. Enough to open broad prospects for the growth of the ibis and Mercure brands in India, with Treebo in charge of this expansion through a licensing agreement with ten new Mercure hotels already expected to be added.
The combined Treebo and Accor portfolios represent India's third-largest hotel player, with over 30,000 rooms. You could say that this is only the case, because unlike China, where the world leaders have hundreds and hundreds of establishments, the sub-continent remains a major player in the hotel sector. an extremely fragmented market. A subsidiary of the Indian giant Tata, the biggest name in the local hotel business, IHCL, has just over 200 establishments in its country through its Taj, Vivanta and Ginger brands.
As for international hoteliers, Radisson Group is approaching the 200 mark with 128 hotels in operation and nearly 80 more to come, and can count on a partnership with the Indian hotelier Sarovar, owned since 2017 by Louvre Hotels, which like Radisson belongs to the Chinese group JinJiang. For its part, Marriott offers just over 150 establishments, compared with around thirty for Hilton or Best Western and around fifty for IHG and Hyatt, the latter having set itself the target of 100 hotels within the next five years.
With 71 hotels in the country at present and around forty more under development - including Fairmonts in Mumbai and Udaipur Accor had no reason to be ashamed of its position in the Indian market. The partnership with InterGlobe should give it a new impetus. The aim is to create " the fastest-growing hotel operator in India" The goal is to operate a network of 300 Accor-branded hotels by 2030, offering local customers and international business travellers new options ranging from economy to lifestyle and luxury.
This strategic partnership is " a major turning point for Accor and its brands in India" according to Sébastien Bazin, CEO of the French group Accor, who sees it as a way of " unleash unprecedented growth potential on one of the world's most promising tourism markets" . A key clientele, as much so as the Americans or the Chinese, for Accor hotels around the world, and even more so for those located in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
With a population of almost one and a half billion, India is set to become the world's fifth-largest destination for foreign travel and third-largest destination for domestic travel by 2027. To help them make the right choices, Accor and InterGlobe are strengthening their partnership. linking Accor's ALL platform to IndiGo's BluChips Rewards loyalty programmelaunched last November. While the overall framework has not yet been set, the sharing of points, the co-branding of loyalty and the seamless conversion of points between the two programmes are already being discussed.
