Hotel operator Accor is rebranding its economy hotel line to expand its hotel network under the Ibis brand.

　　Hotel operator Accor is rebranding its economy hotel line to expand its hotel network under the Ibis brand. The company also plans to build more budget hotels in tourist destinations to anticipate higher demands.

　　The company is currently in the process of changing its All Seasons brand into Ibis Styles and its Formule 1 into Ibis Budget. The new brands are included under its Ibis economy hotel line.

　　By carrying out the rebranding program, Accor will have a wider economy hotel network under Ibis, according to Accor regional director of sales, marketing and distribution in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore Adi Satria.

　　“It would be better to have many economy hotels under one brand than to have several hotels under different brands. We hope the rebranding program will be completed in early 2013,” he said in Jakarta, on Monday.

　　At the moment, Accor runs 20 economy hotels in nine cities across Indonesia — Bali, Bandung, Balikpapan, Jakarta, Pekanbaru, Semarang, Solo, Surabaya and Yogyakarta. The hotels consist of five Ibis Styles, 13 Ibis and two Ibis Budget.

　　Besides Ibis, the company also operates other brands in Indonesia, such as upscale Pullman and M Gallery, and midscale Novotel, Grand Mercure and Mercure.

　　Accor plans to build 28 new economy hotels in the next three years, including 11 hotels in 2013. Many of the future hotels would be located in tourist spots and would support the government’s effort to promote new tourism destinations as well, Adi said.

　　“The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has issued a list of 16 new strategic national tourist locations [KSPNs]. So we will cooperate with the ministry to encourage tourism growth in those locations,” he said.

　　The KSPNs include diving spot Bunaken in Manado, North Sulawesi; Mount Rinjani in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara; and diving area Raja Ampat in Papua.

　　Adi said that the choice of tourist spots would also be in line with findings of a recent survey, commissioned by the company to research firm ORC International.

　　Last August, ORC surveyed 845 people in eight city and countries – Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. The number of Indonesians surveyed amounted to 111.

　　The survey shows that 41 percent of the Indonesian respondents said that they would stay at economy hotels for leisure purposes, compared to the 39 percent who said they would choose economy hotels during their business travels. “This is an opportunity for us to expand our economy hotel segment,” Adi said.

　　According to Adi, at the moment, half of Ibis guests stay at the hotels for business purposes and the other half for leisure. About 95 percent of its total number of guests are domestic tourists.

　　He added that the company was certain it would be able to maintain its dominance in the country’s economy hotel market as 68 percent of the respondents said they preferred international brands compared to domestic ones.