kabarsula Accor leaders on Middle East recovery, franchise growth and Australia’s next hotel hotspots bandar SLOT INDONESIA
Accor’s regional chiefs used an exclusive Sydney media lunch to outline how the group is weathering the Middle East crisis without layoffs, why franchising is reshaping its Pacific portfolio, and where they see Australian demand heading.
Accor kept every Middle East employee and signed 29 hotels through the region’s crisis, CEO Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific Duncan O’Rourke told Travel Weekly and other media at Flaminia in Circular Quay, Sydney, on Tuesday.
The lunch, co-hosted by Pacific COO Adrian Williams, followed the group’s signing of a 143-room Novotel for Reve Group’s Nova Rêve precinct at Castle Hill, scheduled to open in early 2029.
Middle East: rate, not occupancy, is the problem
In a wide-ranging discussion, O’Rourke said 2024 and 2025 were record years for his region, and that things looked strong in mid-February – until the crisis began around on 12 February. Hotels across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain “shut down” almost overnight, he said.
Dubai, a major market for Accor, is now about 5 per cent below budgeted occupancy, with the average rate is 15–20 per cent below last year, as airlines have not fully returned to capacity. But demand from China, India and Russia has helped fill rooms.
Government travel advisories, including those from Australia, placed some countries in the region at “not recommended” levels, O’Rourke said, affecting insurance and permission to travel. He said a ceasefire had not brought certainty.
O’Rourke expects British Airways to resume services in October, with a pickup in November and December, and a fuller recovery by the first quarter of 2027. But with any recovery he cautioned this depended on geopolitical developments but they continue to maintain staff levels as they did during the pandemic.
“We didn’t lay anyone off,” he said, having found that rehiring and retraining later was costly and hurt service quality. And no hotels closed either, except those already scheduled to receive phased refurbishments, though closed ports had made it difficult to bring in larger items such as furniture and building supplies.
Meanwhile, owners had kept faith, O’Rourke said, with 29 hotels signed during the crisis and no sign of a slowdown in net unit growth against Accor’s budget. Dubai school applications were up 12 per cent, he said, evidence that residents and ex-pat workers were returning. What was still missing, he said, was the high-end UK and Australian leisure traveller.
But Accor’s exposure to religious travel is significant. O’Rourke said the group holds 22 per cent of the religious-travel market in Mecca, including a single building overlooking the Kaaba that houses Raffles, Fairmont, Mövenpick, Swissôtel and two Pullman hotels.
Group strategy: asset light and franchise-led
O’Rourke said Accor was now fully asset light after selling its remaining 30 per cent of AccorInvest, with the sale due to close at the end of the year and proceeds earmarked for a share buyback. While his region currently covers about 2,100 hotels there are around 920 more in the pipeline or “one opening every 22 hours”.
Luxury and premium continue to perform well, O’Rourke said, pointing to its hotel brand Orient-Express’s new 50-cabin sailing yacht, OE Corinthian, built at Chantiers del’Atlantique, in St Nazaire, France. The 110-guest OE Corinthian has 54 suites, with a Michelin-starred restaurant.
O’Rourke also flagged branded residences as a growing trend, which he said could lift project values by 25–40 per cent depending on the city.
On technology, O’Rourke said Accor was investing heavily in AI but did not want to become “an AI company”, preferring to “automate the ordinary” but humanise the hotel experience.
Pacific: franchising passes the halfway mark
Williams said Accor now has more than 150 franchised hotels in Australia and expects franchising to account for more than 50 per cent of the Pacific portfolio for the first time. O’Rourke noted that about 70 per cent of hotels in Europe are franchised, while US competitors are closer to 90 per cent.
Accor claims to be the largest franchise platform in the market, on top of being the largest brand group and management company, Williams said. He pointed to the conversion-friendly Greet brand, which opened in Alice Springs in August, and teased further signings he did not detail.
Recent Pacific openings include hotels in Adelaide, Melbourne and Peppers Clear Mountain and Novotel St Kilda, which opened two weeks ago. Accor expects about 20 more openings across the Pacific by the end of the year. It currently operates more than 420 hotels in the region.
Where Australians are travelling
Williams said event travel was driving demand with a “festival of football” filling rooms in Perth for the rugby this week, Melbourne for the AFL Grand Final last weekend and Sydney for the NRL Grand Final this weekend, followed by big concerts including Harry Styles in December at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
Outside events, New Zealand remains the top outbound destination for Australians, followed by Fiji and Bali, he said, adding that Gold Coast is bouncing back after last year’s cyclone. He said wellness travel is increasingly being framed around longevity, with guests wanting to enjoy themselves but also eat well.
Asked where Australians should be travelling, Williams nominated Tasmania – where the group has hotels in Launceston and Devonport – and the Northern Territory, including Darwin and in Uluru with attractions such as the Field of Light, which marked its 10th anniversary this year. Williams also praised Western Australia’s government backing of tourism, citing the Elizabeth Quay development.
Brisbane in focus
Ahead of the Olympics, Williams said it is already the No.1 operator in Brisbane, describing it as a seven-day city that had moved beyond its corporate roots, and one where the opportunity extends past 2032. The group wants more properties there with Williams hinting it would bring “one of our favourite brands” back to downtown Brisbane, with an announcement expected to be made in the near future.
Development remains tough though with Williams adding that central Sydney and Brisbane are difficult places to build for new hotels, with construction constraints rather than planning the main hurdle in Brisbane, while Greater Sydney – including Castle Hill – offered a different story.
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