Accord hotel group to expand outside India

City-based Accord Group is hoping for eight hotels under its belt within three years' time, a top company official said. The group aims to achieve this through a three-pronged strategy of acquisitions within and outside India, construction of new hotels and the running of hotels under management contracts. "The plan is to have around 1,100 rooms under the group in three years' time from around 320 rooms that we have now," newly appointed chief executive officer Venkatesh Bhat said. Currently, the Accord Group has three five-star hotels — the 162-room Accord Metropolitan in Chennai, the 105-room Accord Puducherry and the 53-room Highland in Ooty. While the first two are owned by the group, the Ooty property is leased."The group is in the process of finalising negotiations to acquire 1.5 acres here [opposite the Hilton hotel] to build a five-star hotel. The proposed hotel will have lots of water bodies which will be something new for the city. We are also looking at a greenfield property in Bengaluru," he said. On the group's overseas plans, Bhat said talks are on with some parties in London, Singapore and Dubai. Bhat said with the Puducherry and Ooty hotels functioning this fiscal, the revenue for the group is expected to touch Rs750 million (Dh49.4 million).