Largest ibis underway for Brisbane
Australia’s largest hotel operator, Accor, will add to its rapidly expanding economy portfolio following the signing of a management agreement with Middle East hotel owner and developer, Action Hotels plc, that confirmed that they will develop what will be the largest ibis hotel in Australasia in a prime commercial location in central Brisbane.
The announcement of the $90 million 368-room ibis Brisbane Elizabeth Street hotel took place at the Sofitel Brisbane Central on 2 September with Accor Pacific chief operating officer Simon McGrath, managing director of AHC Australia, Andrew Nehme and Brisbane lord mayor Graham Quirk.
Accor and Action Hotels plc have been working together in economy hotels in Australia and the Middle East since 2006, and currently have five operating ibis hotels and a further three due to open by the end of 2016. In Australia, Action Hotels plc own the ibis Glen Waverley hotel in Melbourne which opened in 2007.
Simon McGrath, said, “Accor remains the leader in the economy hotel segment with 60 hotels in the Australian ibis ‘megabrand’ brand portfolio. The ibis brand has kept up with the changing expectations of consumers through design-led affordable quality hotels. As such, investors are strongly drawn to the ibis brand as exemplified by three new build hotels currently in development and the recent opening of ibis Adelaide.
“Once operational, ibis Brisbane Elizabeth Street will add another dimension to the brand growth as the largest ibis hotel in Australasia. We are excited to be part of this key development for Brisbane and look forward to working with Action on another successful partnership,” Mr. McGrath added.
Andrew Nehme of Action said, “We are excited about developing another ibis hotel in Australia given the success of our partnership that we enjoy with ibis Melbourne Glen Waverley. The new ibis hotel due to open by 2016 has a prime location in central Brisbane and will be the largest ibis in the region.”
Construction of the multi-million dollar hotel development will commence in later this year with a scheduled opening in early 2016.
