French hotel sector has high potential to welcome foreign brands

French hotel sector has high potential to welcome foreign brands

As the world’s number one tourist destination – with 80 million foreign visitors in 2011 – France draws on its cultural diversity, gastronomy and art de vivre, as well as a wide variety of architectural heritage and landscapes.

As the world’s fifth largest economy, it is also a preferred destination for business travel: every year, close to 20 million visitors attend more than 500 events, conferences and trade shows. Various sporting and cultural events are set to drive an increase in the country’s hotel capacity: Marseille is the European Capital of Culture in 2013, the Caen region is due to host the World Equestrian Games in 2014, while the Paris region will see the UEFA European Football Championship in 2016 and golf’s Ryder Cup in 2018.

The quality of tourist services has been enhanced, in particular, by reforming the hotel classification system. France has 17,000 classified hotels, offering a total of 600,000 rooms. The new scale has five star ratings (in place of four previously), with a “Palace” rating awarded to certain five-star hotels.

France boasts a number of historic sites – often located in city centers – that have been put up for sale and are being or would be suitable for hotel conversions. These include the former courthouse in Nantes, the former Strasbourg police headquarters and hospitals in Lyon and Marseille.

France’s tourist potential has led leading global hotel groups to increase their presence in the country. Accor group, the world’s fifth largest hotel group and leader in the French market, has 1,489 hotels.

Foreign investment is also on the rise, including:

- Louvre Hotels Group, owned by American fund Starwood Capital, has 800 hotels in France.

- American brand Best Western has 310 hotels in France.

- American franchise network Choice Hotels has 140 hotels in France.

- British group IHG, the world’s number one hotel group, has 60 hotels in France.

In the upscale segment, the 2010 opening of the first European hotel belonging to Chinese chain Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, the 2011 opening of the Mandarin Oriental owned by Chinese group Jardine Matheson, and the forthcoming opening of the first European hotel owned by Chinese brand Peninsula, all in Paris, have marked the arrival of Asian investors, some of whom are already interested in other major French cities. According to a forecast on the European hotel market published recently by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Paris is expected to register the best operating performances among major cities in Europe in 2013.

Mr. David Appia, Chairman and CEO of the Invest in France Agency (IFA), points out that “As the world’s leading tourist destination and Europe’s second largest market, France offers many expansion opportunities for leading global hotel brands, with a combination of a vibrant business market with unrivaled tourist potential. European, American and Asian investors have unsurprisingly invested here, boosting hotel capacity both in Paris and in France’s regions.”

The Invest in France Agency (IFA) is the national agency responsible for promoting and facilitating international investment in France. It also coordinates initiatives to promote France’s economic attractiveness. The IFA network operates worldwide, with offices in France as well as in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In France, the IFA works in partnership with regional development agencies to offer international investors outstanding business opportunities and customized services. For further information, please visit www.investinfrance.org.

Invest in France Agency

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Tel: (852) 3752 9170

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Email : hongkong@investinfrance.org

法國酒店業為外國品牌提供強大發展潛力

法國是世界第一大旅遊目的地國，二零一一年共接待了八千萬名外國遊客；法國有着豐富的文化、美食和生活藝術資源，當中不乏為人所樂道的多樣性建築和風景文化遺產。

作為世界第五大經濟強國，法國亦是商業旅遊的目的地。法國每年組織超過五百項商務活動、代表會議和展會，接待的參觀者接近兩千萬人次。在多項體育和文化活動的推動下，法國需要加強酒店業的接待能力：二零一三年馬賽是歐洲的文化首都，岡城(Caen)地區將組織二零一四年的世界馬術比賽，還有二零一六年的歐洲足球賽和二零一八年的Ryder Cup高爾夫球賽將會在巴黎附近舉行。

通過對酒店的分級改革，法國所提供的旅遊服務變得更豐富。法國擁有一萬七千家星級酒店，共計六十萬個房間。新的酒店分級包括五星級 (以前是四星)，某些五星級的酒店還獲得最高的「Palace」級別。

法國有些可供出售的歷史旅遊點，一般這些旅遊點都位於市中心，其中有些已經改建或者適合改造成酒店，包括南特的大法院，斯特拉斯堡的警察總部以及里昂和馬賽的醫院。法國有很大的旅遊潛力，所以世界知名的酒店集團都在法國設立酒店。世界第五大酒店集團雅高 (Accor) 在法國市場佔第一位，集團擁有一千四百八十九家酒店。

外國在法國的投資也越來越多，其中包括：

- 美國的Starwood Capital 基金所擁有的Louvre酒店集團在法國有八百家酒店。

- 源自美國的品牌Best Western在法國擁有三百一十家酒店。

- 美國的特約經銷網路Choice Hotels在法國擁有一百四十家酒店。

- 英國的世界第一大酒店集團IHG在法國有六十家酒店。

在高檔酒店領域，中國的連鎖品牌香格里拉酒店集團 (Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts) 二零一零年在巴黎開立了第一家酒店，由中國的集團公司怡和洋行 (Jardine Matheson) 擁有的文華東方酒店 (Mandarin Oriental) 二零一一年也在巴黎開立了自己的第一家酒店。中國的半島品牌 (Peninsula) 也將在巴黎設立酒店。這都標誌着亞洲的投資者已經開始關注法國的巴黎和其他大城市。根據普華永道國際會計公司 (PWC) 最近公佈的一項對歐洲酒店業的調查，在二零一三歐洲的大城市當中，巴黎的酒店業將取得最佳的經營業績。

法國政府投資部 (AFII) 的主席大衛•亞庇 (David Appia) 指出說：「法國是世界第一大旅遊目的地國，歐洲第二大旅遊市場，對於世界大的酒店品牌來說，法國可以為他們提供各種發展業務的服務，使他們的業務充滿活力，具有無可比擬的旅遊潛力。歐洲、美國和亞洲的投資者都明確地看到了這一點，他們投資建設的酒店加強了巴黎和法國各個地區的酒店服務。」

法國政府投資部 (AFII) 介紹：

法國政府投資部是法國的一個全國性機關，負責宣傳和接待國際投資，是提升法國的吸引力和經濟形象的最佳機構。法國政府投資部擁有一個國際網路，並與地區經濟發展署密切合作，向外國的投資者提供具有個性化的服務。欲知詳情，請電郵至monique.trapenard@afii.fr，或者瀏覽網站www.afii.fr。

法國政府投資部

香港金鐘夏愨道18號海富中心二期25樓

電話：(852) 3752 9170

傳真：(852) 3752 9172

電郵：hongkong@investinfrance.org