Salter Brothers signs with Accor
Agreement Australia’s largest hotel management agreement for more than 10 years
Salter Brothers has announced that its portfolio of hotels, acquired as part of the recent Travelodge acquisition, will be joining Accor at the start of the 2023 financial year.
The agreement represents one of Australia’s largest hotel management portfolio deals for over a decade, inclusive of an industry-leading link to ESG outcomes, and will see the Salter Brothers properties, some 2000 plus rooms, rebranded to ibis Styles, Mercure and Novotel hotels when they join the 340 plus Accor network of hotels, apartments and resorts across Australia.
Describing the agreement as a major milestone for the group, Salter Brothers managing director, Paul Salter, said his organisation was delighted to be partnering with Accor for the operation of this acquired portfolio.
“Both Salter Brothers and Accor are committed to leading the way with ESG hotel benchmarks and our agreement will see us working together to structure performance against targets, which are linked to commercial outcomes,” he said.
“This may include targets such as green energy procurement, waste and energy, water reduction and diversity.”
“This agreement will not only lead to a high-quality experience for our customers, who will benefit from Accor’s commitment to operating excellence and focus on the guest, but also our partners, investors and the industry as a whole as it drives value and fuels sustainable outcomes.
The domestic travel market is showing very promising signs of recovery, and we believe that with our major refurbishment program in the properties and Accor as our partner under this innovative approach to management, we can take full advantage of this opportunity,” Paul Salter commented.
Accor Pacific Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Derry, said that by partnering with Accor, Salter Brothers would have access to Accor’s powerful distribution engine and realise the benefits of strong customer demand through Accor’s award-winning lifestyle loyalty program, ALL – Accor Live Limitless.
This is in addition to significant extended benefits created by Accor’s major strategic partnerships with Accor Stadium and Qantas.
“We are delighted to be adding these great hotels to our growing portfolio; it brings new opportunities for our people, partners and guests.
“Expanding our footprint with these incredible properties will bring more choice for our customers and realise significant commercial benefits for Salter Brothers. Tourism is critical to the economic growth of our region and future job creation.”
The deal is Accor’s largest integration since its $1.2 billion acquisition of Mantra Group in 2018, which brought the Art Series, Peppers, Mantra and BreakFree brands under Accor.
Nine of the properties will become Mercure hotels, growing Mercure from 44 properties in Australia to 53, making Mercure the largest and fastest growing global mid-scale brand in Australia with more than 50 hotels.
“The Salter Brothers integration is the latest chapter in Accor’s strong growth story in the Pacific region,” Ms Derry said.
“These hotels are located in amazing central city locations and the best metropolitan areas and we are working with Salter Brothers to reinvigorate the portfolio, setting them up for success with the next generation of travellers and signalling our confidence in the return of corporate travel.”
Mike Parker-Brown is a UK-trained and qualified journalist and an award-winning travel communicator with more than 30 years experience.
Since 2002, Mike has worked as a freelance writer and PR consultant providing his services to major organisations in Australia and internationally in the tourism, aviation, hospitality, recruitment and export marketing sectors.
