Accor plans to open 23 MidEast hotels by 2015

Accor Middle East said on Monday it plans to open 23 new hotels (5,891 rooms) within the next three years.

A strong focus will be on two key markets, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are seen to drive positive growth for the group's development plans, it said in a statement.

Twelve of the hotels will be located in the UAE, four in Saudi Arabia, three in Syria, two in Qatar, one in Egypt and one in Bahrain, it added.

Christophe Landais, managing director of Accor ME said: "We have experienced positive growth in the region's tourism and hospitality industry in 2011.

"With 2012 upon us, we plan to leverage the breadth of the Accor brands to support the growth in the tourism sector. We are keen to offer tourists and business travellers alike a wider choice of hotels to stay in when they visit this region."

In the UAE, Accor aims to operate seven new hotels this year to add to the 15 properties it currently manages.

Accor said it is expanding its ibis network with the first ibis hotel in Riyadh and Yanbu opening later this year.

Currently Accor manages 11 hotels in the kingdom and four more will follow in the next two years, the statement added.

"Focusing on our core strength, we plan to open a total of nine new hotels representing 2,630 rooms in 2012 that will reflect our full range of internationally branded hotels," Landais said.

A new hotel brand, Adagio, will join Accor's portfolio of hotels with the launch of the first Adagio City Aparthotel in Abu Dhabi in late 2012.

Designed to be a new network of urban residences, the Adagio City Aparthotel chain offers midscale apartments with à la carte services for "just like at home" stays in major destinations.