Accor has announced the launch of a new upscale brand tailor-made for the Indonesian market.
Unveiled at a press conference at ITB Berlin, Accor’s new Grand Mercure Maha Cipta label will become the second Mercure product to be individually tailored to the needs of an Asian country, following the launch of Grand Mercure Mei Jue in China. While no development targets were given for the new Indonesian brand, Accor said it would help the company achieve its overall goal of operating 100 hotels across Indonesia by 2015. The first hotel under the new brand will be the Grand Mercure Jakarta Harmoni.
“After the successful launch of the tailor-made brand Grand Mercure Mei Jue in China, we are launching Grand Mercure Maha Cipta in a market where we are already the leading player,” said Grégoire Champetier, Accor’s Global Chief Marketing Officer. “We have tailored Grand Mercure for local travellers looking for regional inspirations. Our clients are expecting brands capable of understanding the diversity and the complexity of their identity. To meet these expectations, we intend to continue the development of the Grand Mercure brand in other key regions.”
‘Maha Cipta’ means ‘Greatest Creation’ in Bahasa Indonesian, and Accor said it would target the upscale Indonesian market through four key areas: guest welcome, food & beverage, wellness and the culture. Guests will be offered a “respectful” welcome with tropical fruit macaroons on check-in, while hotels’ F&B outlets will serve Indonesian dishes. Guest rooms will have a “tranquil ambience”, according to Accor, while spa treatments will use local herbs. Perhaps most noticeably, hotels will offer traditional music and dance performances, batik painting workshops and modern Indonesian art exhibitions.
Launched last year, the Grand Mercure Mei Jue brand now has a portfolio of 13 hotels in China, with a further 14 under development, and Accor said it planned to “replicate this success” in Indonesia.
“Creating strong, locally relevant brands is a cornerstone of our strategy in Indonesia and across the Asia Pacific region and Grand Mercure Maha Cipta is a great example,” said Michael Issenberg, Chairman & Chief Operating Officer of Accor Asia Pacific.
