KOTA KINABALU: The world’s leading hotel manager and market leader in Europe, Accor, has launched its Destination-Malaysia Sabah website at accorhotels.com/sabah, to promote Sabah to international travellers and existing Accor customers who are new to the destination.
The company which operates in 90 countries with 145,000 employees, is aiming to increase visitors to Malaysia, particularly in Sabah through cross referrals and digital multimedia content collaboration with the relevant authorities.
Accor vice president Gerard Guillouet in an opening speech said this during the launching at Novotel, 1 Borneo Hypermall yesterday.
“This website has been designed to constantly provide updated information, in partnership with both Sabah Tourism Board and Tourism Malaysia to the Internet users so that informed decisions can be made as to their travel itineraries.
“It is my earnest wish that Accor and the Sabah state government become synonymous in the world of tourism so that we can jointly work towards truly making Sabah a must-see on the global tourism map,” said Guillouet
He added that Sabah and its tourist assets are renowned worldwide and is aptly reflected by the increasing number of direct flights to the city from the various cities in the region as well as the rapidly growing numbers of tourist arrivals to Sabah.
Accor is delighted to partner with Sabah Tourism Board and Tourism Malaysia in working very closely to constantly push the tourism agenda to new heights.
He said the successful partnership was evident in the four hotels that currently have operations in Malaysia, namely Novotel 1 Borneo in the city, Pullman Kuching, Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside and Novotel Kuala Lumpur City Centre.
The success of these ventures, he said, had encouraged the company to expand its network of hotels with three more projects that are soon to be opened in the near future.
He said the Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar, the Pullman Port Dickson and the All Seasons Cheras will be testimonies to Accor’s foundational belief that Malaysia is set to be among the leaders in the tourism and hospitality industries in the region.
Guillouet added that Accor was committed to a long-term stay-in and partnership with Malaysia due to the country’s vast potential as a tourist destination par excellence that was continuously fascinating tourists.
“We are well aware of the way in which the Internet has changed the way people live, do business and indeed plan their holidays or working visit abroad.
“Since Accor launched its eCommerce platform, accorhotels.com in 2001, we have invested in various communication tools and channels such as paid search, online banner display advertising, mobile applications, email marketing platform and more recently, social media to reach out to existing and potential customers,” he said.
Guillouet said the company’s global eCommerce platform of 16 sites across 32 markets attract an average of 17 million unique visitors per month.
The website alone, he said, boasts an average traffic of 7.6 million unique visitors per month from all over the world, up 21 per cent from 2010.
The launching yesterday was officiated by Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, representing Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
Masidi at a press conference said the strategy made by the company not only benefited Accor but also introduced Sabah to the world by a single click through the Internet.
He stressed that in Sabah, industry players should not only increase their service quality but also keep hospitality at par to ensure that more people would know about the State.
Masidi said the website would educate its customers or visitors that Sabah has its own tourism attraction.
He also appreciated the effort of Accor to link the website of the Sabah Tourism Board to ensure more visitors would explore Sabah and contribute to the tourist arrivals in the State.