Interview with Olivier Granet

 

Accor has more than 30 years’ presence in Egypt and has a network of 18 hotels representing more than 4,200 keys. We have a national office based in Cairo, as well as additional support from our regional office based in Dubai.

 

Accor hotels in Egypt are located in nine cities under the brands Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure, covering segments from midscale to luxury.

 

We have some of the country’s landmark properties, including The Sofitel El Gezirah Cairo which overlooks the Nile river, and The Sofitel Legend Old Cataract Aswan, which was opened last September after an extension renovation. The hotel dates from 1899 and is one of the 10 great legendary hotels in the world. Entirely remodelled by French interior architect, Sybille de Margerie, it now offers two contrasting experiences: a stay in the Palace, a historical building with a Victorian façade, or the more contemporary Nile Wing with its river-view suites and luxurious new spa.

 

Accor has a long presence and commitment in the country. We definitely think that Egypt has a significant potential in terms of hotel development both for city centre and resort locations.

Indeed we strongly believe in the growth potential of Egypt’s tourism industry for the already well-established leisure destinations and also for new rising destinations such as Marsa Alam, Sahl Hasheesh. For example, Accor signed in November 2011 a management agreement for a new Novotel resort in Marsa Alam.

 

Even if Cairo is already the most populated metropolis in the Middle-East, there is no doubt about the growth potential of the city: areas like New Cairo for instance have been witnessing an impressive development of their infrastructure with several large-scale mixed-use projects under way.

 

We are fully convinced that the economy hotel market holds a considerable potential in Egypt. It is one of the only countries in the world with a population over 80 million inhabitants which does not have an Ibis network or any other international economy brand implemented.

 

One of our top priorities for the Middle-East region is to introduce the Ibis brand in Egypt and to develop a dense Ibis network covering all major Egyptian cities.

 

The importance of the domestic market, the growing corporate demand over the last few years as well as the high potential for regional travel demand make of Egypt an ideal destination for an Ibis network.

 

Ibis is one of the worldwide leaders on the economy segment with 1,500 hotels, and more particularly it is the leader in Europe and in the Middle-East, where it enjoys an extremely high degree of awareness and has revealed to be a very successful model.

 

Our target is to develop Ibis hotels in Cairo and Greater Cairo, and in a second phase, in Alexandria, and in all other major trading and industrial hubs in Egypt: Port Said, Suez, Damietta, and Aswan. We expect to be a pioneer of the economy lodging market in Egypt and establish a long-term leadership position in this market.

 

 

The mid- to long-term outlook for the sector is very positive. The increase of number of tourist arrivals on the last 10 years is quite impressive from less than five million in the early 2000s to almost 15 million in 2010. The country has a great potential generating more than 10 per cent of the GDP and a very high contribution to employment.

 

All stakeholders’ in Egyptian tourism should work closely together for a fast recovery and make the best use of all the country potential.