LOUVRE Hotels Group, a major hotel group in France and abroad, has reached the development targets it unveiled at the beginning of the year, opening 70 new hotels in 2012 – 48 located abroad – representing a total of close to 8,000 rooms.
This performance again demonstrates the momentum of Louvre Hotels Group’s international expansion, since it opened 32, 40 and 62 new hotels in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.
Over the past few years, the international portion of Louvre Hotels Group’s business volume has grown steadily. At present, 42 per cent of the Group’s hotel portfolio is located outside France, up from 10 per cent in 2007. In addition, the number of hotel rooms managed by Louvre Hotels Group in international markets has increased sevenfold since 2007.
The Group is currently focusing on the emerging markets, on Africa and the Middle East, as well as on Europe. It has implemented a strategy of partnerships with local players possessing in-depth local knowledge.
The acquisition of Golden Tulip in 2009 gave a fillip to this expansion drive into new markets, but the Group is also looking to support the development of its other brands, such as Campanile and Première Classe. This applies in particular in markets in which supply in the high-end segment is not sufficient to meet the full extent of demand.
Emerging markets
The Bric countries represent a genuine priority for Louvre Hotels Group, which opened 31 hotels (4,600 rooms) there during 2012, which means more than half of the hotels opened outside of France.
These countries boast tremendous development potential for leisure, business and local travel. As a result, the Group can expect the full breadth of its hotel range (from two to five stars) to become integrated in these countries over the coming years.
During 2012, Louvre Hotels Group focused in particular on India, Brazil and China:
• In India, five hotels were opened and another eight projects were firmed up right across its hotel range. The major openings during 2012 included the Royal Tulip in Mumbai.
• In Brazil, the Group, now the country’s number three hotel operator, recorded 2012 sales growth of 25 per cent at comparable structure, owing partly to the appeal of its existing Golden Tulip brand.
• Lastly, the Group opened 16 hotels in China during 2012 thanks to Campanile’s partnership with the Jingjang group.
During 2013, the Group, which intends to capitalise on the strong growth in emerging markets, plans to launch new projects across the full breadth of its hotel range in Latin America and in particular in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador over the next few months. The Group is also preparing to establish its budget brands in the Indian market.
With 55 existing hotels and 24 projects already firmed up and set to open over the next four years, Africa and the Middle East represents another key area for Louvre Hotels Group, which intends to consolidate on its number four position in the region’s hotel rankings. The group recently opened up its first hotel in Algeria and has several large-scale projects under development in Western Africa. During 2012, the Group also launched construction of the first Campanile hotel in Morocco.
In Europe, amid gloomy economic conditions Louvre Hotels Group doubled the number of its openings in Europe during 2012, with 16 new hotels (i.e. 1,700 rooms) compared with seven hotels (685 rooms) in 2011.
As well as international expansion, France remains a very important base for the Group. Close to one-quarter of the new openings were in France in 2012, i.e. 22 hotels representing 1,600 rooms. The hotels opened in France were supported by the CAP 50 project, which includes plans for the refurbishment of several hotels in France. A total of €50 million ($66.7 million) was thus raised. The ultimate objective to complete the full refurbishment of some 50 Campanile and Première Classe hotels by the end of 2013.
Looking ahead to 2013, the Group has reiterated that it wants to capitalise on its momentum in international markets. Louvre Hotels Group plans to open between 80 and 85 new hotels.
Speaking about its success, Pierre-Frédéric Roulot, chairman and CEO of Louvre Hotels Group, said, “We are proud of Louvre Hotels Group’s successful international expansion strategy, which led in 2012 to acceleration in the pace of its development in emerging countries. 2013 will also see the continued development of Golden Tulip in France, as it remains the focus of our development plans.”