With the aim of continuing to strengthen in the region, the hotel group Accor will invest US$50 million with a view to the inauguration of four hotels in Chile; between 2012 and 2013 the French group plans to open four Ibis brand stores, a chain it owns, of which two will be in the city of Santiago, one in Valparaíso and one in Puerto Montt.
The schedule estimates that by March the hotel in Providencia (Santiago) will be completed, at the end of the year the one in Valparaíso as well as the Ibis Maquehue built next to the Las Americas investment fund in the Chilean capital; at the beginning of 2013 the one in Puerto Montt will be ready.
This hotel group has 4,300 centers around the world and has defined Chile as the second strategic focus in the region, after Brazil. "Today we have nine projects, which shows that our will is always to grow. We think that in five years we can count on twice as many projects and we have no doubt that we can reach 20 hotels quickly," says Abel Castro, development director for Latin America at Accor.
The firm hopes to be the leading international hotel chain in Chile and is looking for land and business partners for new projects in all its brands. Antofagasta, Copiapó, Iquique, Santiago and Viña del Mar are in the crosshairs.
As Accor has revealed, the Chilean market is one of the most attractive in Latin America. The growing development of this sector presents great opportunities for French tourism companies.
