Mid-level business travelers push occupancy at IBIS Hotels

IBIS Hotels have been registering an occupancy rate of over 70% even when the average occupancy stood at around 50-60% for other sister brands

IBIS Hotels, which targets mid-level business travelers, has been registering a consistently higher occupancy rate among the other portfolio brands of French hotel major Accor in India, according to J B Singh, president and CEO of InterGlobe Hotels.

This has also positioned IBIS as among the fastest growing brands within the portfolio of 9 hotel brands being promoted in India by Accor as it plans to add 1,400 rooms by launching 8 more IBIS brand hotels in the next couple of years.

InterGlobe is the Indian joint venture partner of Accor for IBIS Hotels brand though it has also been partnering with the French hospitality group for an upcoming hotel of Novotel brand owned by the latter. Together they have established 12 IBIS Hotels with a combined strength of 2,200 rooms across major cities.

Launching the first IBIS Hotel and the fifth one under Accor portfolio in Hyderabad, Singh said they will be opening 2-3 more hotels in the current year with a goal to set up 20 hotels by 2018. InterGlobe has so far invested Rs 1,300 crore in the hotel JV and plans to pump in an additional Rs 900 crore to set up 8 more hotels as planned.

According to Singh, IBIS Hotels have been registering an occupancy rate of over 70 percent even when the average occupancy stood at around 50-60 percent for other sister brands, thanks to the growing demand from mid segment business travelers. He said there was a scope to double the number of IBIS hotels after 2018.

Accor currently operates 42 hotels with a combined strength of 8000 rooms in India and it was planning to take this number to 10,000 rooms by next year.

Accor and InterGlobe have invested close to Rs 100 crore on this new 178-room IBIS Hotel property in Hyderabad.