Ibis plans franchises in move to expand
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Ibis plans to expand its China portfolio to around 50 hotels by the end of this year, the hotel said yesterday in Shanghai.
The international economy hotel brand owned by Accor Group already has 38 properties in China.
Ibis has also recently launched a franchise model to accelerate its growth across the country.
Four franchise agreements have already been signed while another 15 contracts are anticipated to be secured by the end of 2010, the company said.
"China has been one of the major growth markets for the Ibis brand since we entered the market in 2004," said Gilles Larrive, senior vice president of Ibis Asia. "And the launch of this franchise operating model, an important strategy for the brand, has marked the start of an unprecedented expansion rate for Ibis in China."
Launched in 1974, the Ibis chain had a global portfolio of 861 hotels in 45 countries by the end of 2009.
Of those, 60 percent were franchised properties.
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