Accor hotel group is enjoying even more success as they celebrate their 20th year in Australia having been presented with the award for Best Hotel/Resort Group at the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) 2011 National Travel Industry Awards (NTIA).
The NTIA are the industry’s premier awards, nominated and voted by over 3000 travel agents and industry peers for exceptional contributions to the travel industry.
The award follows Accor’s win at the Accommodation Association of Australia (AAA) Awards last month where they took out the title of Hotel Chain of the Year.
“These acknowledgements from the industry as we celebrate 20 years of operation in Australia are very much appreciated and confirm that Accor not only has a strong, established history with the industry, but also a solid future,” said Accor Vice President Australia, Simon McGrath.
To celebrate their 20th birthday, Accor are offering 20% off rates at participating Australian hotels for stays to 4 October via www.accorhotels.com/20thbirthday.
And to capture a snapshot of memories from the past 20 years, the group have set up a special website www.20years.com.au which features a video of people sharing their happiest, saddest and most life changing moments over the past 20 years from the comfort of an Accor bed. People are invited to contribute to the blog, and those who share their reminiscences will receive a $20 voucher to use during their next stay at an Accor hotel and will go into a draw to win one of 20 x $200 Accor Gift Vouchers.
Accor’s story began at Sydney’s Darling Harbour with the launch of the pioneering Novotel in July 1991. It was conceived in the middle of the “recession we had to have”, a time of great economic hardship, airline collapses, Middle East conflict and ferocious competition in Australia’s hotel industry. But, in retrospect, it was the perfect time for Europe’s leading hotel group to take on the largely American competition and build their hotel network to over 150, by far the largest in Australia.
In the two decades Accor changed the face of the Australian hotel scene with the introduction of a vast range of brands from 5-star Sofitels and Pullmans to the economy and budget brands Ibis and Formule 1.