ACCOR has unveiled plans to expand its leisure-focused brands Coralia and Thalassa to 250 hotels by the 2001.
The French hotel chain currently has 180 properties categorised under the leisure brand Coralia and 14 which are branded Thalassa, to signify that they offer seawater spa and therapy facilities.
The Coralia brand is represented worldwide while the Thalassa brand is confined to France at the moment.
International director of sales and marketing Peter Haigh said the group was looking for opportunities to open properties under both brands in the Far East, MiddleEast, South America, French Caribbean and French Polynesia. The group has already almost doubled the size of its leisure portfolio in the last two years. Some 25 Coralia and Thalassa hotels opened in the first quarter of this year, including the Mercure Coralia Inn Safaga on the Red Sea and the Novotel Coralia Coral Bay in Sharm El Sheikh.
The Coralia and Thalassa brands are used alongside the group’s brands, Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis, which indicate the standards of services and facilities offered.
“So, Coralia and Thalassa can be anything from two star to five star,”said Haigh.
The growth plans were announced to the UKtrade as part of a major sales and marketing drive by the chain to increase awareness of the two brands.
“We realised we needed to do a lot more to increase the profile of these two brands in the UK,” said Haigh.
The group held a reception for tour operators, airlines and tourist boards in London to launch the brands and plans to run roadshows and other promotional events throughout the year.