Accor, a global hotel operator in the budget to luxury segments, is planning to target mid-corporate and meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market in India through its ‘Formule1’ brand.

“We currently operate two Formule1 budget hotels in India and it will be a 10-hotels group by the end of 2014,” Philip Logan, Vice President, Formule1 Hotels, India, told Business Line.

“Today, we formally launched our first South India property in Bangalore’s Whitefield.

“The hotel, having 131 rooms, is set to redefine the budget accommodation segment in this IT hub. Later this month we will be opening another in Pune’s Hinjewadi,” he added.

For the Formule1 brand of hotels, the company is targeting the mid-corporate segment with employees in the age group of 23-25 years, earning Rs 1 lakh and above.

Logan said: “Accor is planning ‘price and volume’ play for its budget hotels. At present, for our Noida property, we are targeting corporates. In Ahmedabad and Bangalore we are targeting a mix of corporates, MICE and FIT (foreign independent travel) segment.” He declined to reveal Accor’s investment plans for budget hotels in India.

In partnership with hospitality investment firm SAMHI, Accor is planning to develop 15 properties in India. The company is currently constructing a hotel each in Gurgaon, Kolkatta and Chennai and two hotels in Pune and Hyderabad.

“The investment and property development made by SAMHI is bearing fruit, and we plan to open one hotel every three months,” Logan said. “After the initial rollout of Formule1 budget hotels in metropolitan cities we are planning the strategy for entry into Tier II and III cities,” he added.

anil.u@thehindu.co.in

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