Accor enters Chandigarh with a 120-room Novotel property

NEW DELHI: French hospitality major Accor has announced the launch of its full-service 120-room Novotel property in Chandigarh. Of the existing portfolio of brands, Novotel, the company said, forms the largest network of mid-scale hotels in the country with 20 properties operational.

Puneet Dhawan, senior vice president of operations - India & South Asia, Accor, said “India presents substantial opportunities to grow our midscale brands. This will be an ideal brand for the Chandigarh market as it caters to both corporate and leisure travellers." 

Hospitality consultancy Hotelivate, in a report, said that in FY21, supply of rooms in India has grown 3.3% year-on-year, taking the total number of branded rooms in the country to 1.44 lakh. This takes into account the 4,093 new rooms that opened during the year. A lot of this inventory came up in the major metros.

New Delhi continues to have the largest branded room inventory base in India (15,181 rooms), up 1%  on year. Mumbai, including Navi Mumbai, and Bengaluru ranked second and third with 14,330 rooms and 13,901 rooms, respectively.

The 2021 Indian Hospitality Trends & Opportunities report said that 46% of Mumbai's, including Navi Mumbai, proposed supply is under active development as opposed to 64% of Bengaluru's. In absolute terms, Bengaluru is expected to have a marginally higher definite proposed room count.

The report added that Accor is the fourth largest hotel player in the country after Marriott, IHCL and Radisson Hotel Group. Marriott's room inventory stands at about 20,000 in the country, whereas Accor's is about 10,000.