No doubt the story of this success was already being written when Bernard Mignard and Michel Vincent decided to dedicate their hotel brand to the god of travel and trade, Mercure. How could they fail to prosper around the world with such a christening... Since the opening of the first hotel in 1974 in Saint-Witz, near Roissy, and the takeover the following year by what was to become the Accor group, the brand took off to every continent.
Since it opened its first hotel outside France in Lisbon in 1983, it has travelled to many different countries, and now boasts over 1,000 hotels worldwide. 68 countries in total. This is a figure that few hotel brands can boast, including Accor's Ibis, IHG's Holiday Inn, Marriott's Courtyard and Fairfield and Hampton by Hilton.
A mid-range positioning and local roots, a certain flexibility to attract owners: these are the foundations on which Mercure has been able to conquer France and Europe, with more than 550 hotels today, but also Asia-Pacific where the brand is well represented with some 400 hotels, including around sixty in the premium Grand Mercure range.
On this continent, the brand has recently doubled in size in Japan thanks to the takeover of hotels under the Daiwa banner and the opening of around ten resorts in the country this year, notably in Fukuoka, Miyagi and Miyazu, not far from Kyoto. In China, where the brand benefits from a master franchise agreement with the H World group (formerly Huazhu), around thirty hotels have recently opened, bringing the total number of establishments in the country to over 180. But the highlight of 2024 was the unveiling in April of the the brand's largest hotel Mercure ICON Singapore City Centre, with its 989 rooms.
Also in 2024, in May, a seventh hotel appeared in the Thai capital, the Mercure Bangkok Surawong. Mercure has also discovered a new European country, Albania, with a hotel in Tirana, while adding a third hotel in Dubai, in the Deira district, and the Mercure Bangkok Surawong. a seventh in LondonMercure London Earls Court.
In addition to Accor's expansion in the luxury and lifestyle segments, its historic brands remain strong growth drivers. Mercure in particular, which has the largest pipeline of new projects in the group with more than 200 new addresses expected by 2028. This leaves Jean-Jacques Morin, Accor's Deputy CEO, impatient. to see how far this seductive, energetic brand will go over the next fifty years" .
