The role of the Mexican market in the plans of the French hotel chain Accor points to the luxury segment in the coming years, without neglecting the complexes oriented to business trips, which the company expects to be reactivated in the medium term.
Globally, 2022 looks like a year of openings for Accor. With around 300 hotels and resorts pending operations, with a strong focus on the pleasure market in the luxury segment. This is the response to projects such as the Fairmont brand, which is preparing a new opening in Orlando, Florida, and a new Sofitel in Panama, a project that is integrated into a site declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Mexico has not been oblivious to the inclusion of these brands. Accor, which currently has 33 properties of nine brands in the country, opened in 2019 one of its most exclusive brands in Mexico City, Sofitel, and also projects the inclusion of a new Fairmont complex in La Paz, Baja California Sur, which is added to another of the brand located in Acapulco.
In addition, by 2023 the firm is preparing the inclusion of its MGallery brand in Tulum with the help of the Mexican company Inmobilia, a project with 45 rooms and 95 condominiums with which it seeks to attract one of the markets that has grown the most despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in the tourism sector.
“The premium, luxury and lifestyle segments are the ones that have attracted the most interest from tourists,” explains Nicolás Martínez Matallana, Accor’s vice president of development for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. “It has become a trend that is here to stay.”
With MGallery, the chain seeks to enter the segment of branded residences , where other chains such as Marriott have set their sights. According to the manager, positioning himself in Tulum responds to the fact that it is one of the most dynamic attractions and with the greatest exposure worldwide, and that it is added to other markets where more openings are being prepared.
Among these, Mazatlán has pending the introduction of a 150-room Hyde complex signed at the end of 2020, oriented to the life and style market. In addition, the opening of a So hotel – one of the most exclusive in its portfolio – in Los Cabos, signed at the end of 2018, is still pending.
For this year, Accor is preparing the opening of the Novotel Mexico City Insurgentes WTC complex, a brand oriented to the business travel market, which, despite remaining in decline due to the pandemic, is perceived as promising in the long term.
“People need to travel and meet to close deals. It is very necessary to have conversations, to be present”, refers the manager. “In the hotel sector when we talk about business we do it with a perspective of 20, 30 years. The long-term vision is that this segment will be as relevant as it was in the past”.
