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Melbourne’s newest dual-branded central hotel accommodation, Novotel Melbourne Central and ibis Melbourne Central, officially opened Monday with a ribbon cutting ceremony, with dignitaries and guests in attendance for the celebration.

Located in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, the integrated new-build Novotel and ibis hotels add 483 midscale and premium economy rooms to Melbourne’s booming hotel industry.

Employing over 150 local staff, the opening comes as inbound tourism continues to grow, with tourism from international visitors set to increase by 75% before the end of the next decade[1]. Since construction began in September 2016, the new build has employed over 1,000 Australian builders and contractors injecting $94million into the local economy.

Chief Operating Officer AccorHotels Pacific, Simon McGrath, expressed his excitement over the official opening of AccorHotels’ first vertical dual-branded hotel integration in Melbourne.

“The opening of this significant new hotel development is a win for Melbourne, signifying that the company’s growth strategy continues to be focused in this region. AccorHotels has been a major player in Melbourne for quite some time, proudly employing over 1400 people across our well-established network of hotel brands in Victoria.

“Melbourne boasts a world-class sporting and events calendar with events like the Australian Open, Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne Cup, Melbourne Fashion Week and the Moomba Festival, we are excited to play our part toward building Victorian tourism, with the opening of AccorHotels first vertical dual-branded hotel, right here in Melbourne.

“With one in eight Australian’s now part of our dynamic global loyalty program, Le Club AccorHotels, we are sure that this exciting new hotel development will not only appeal to our loyal clientele base, but also attract a new market of discerning travellers looking to be rewarded,” added McGrath.

Special guests at the opening ceremony included Councillor Kevin Louey, Chair of the Prosperous City Portfolio for the City of Melbourne. Representatives from AccorHotels included Chief Operating Officer Pacific, Simon McGrath, Haydon Elliot, Acting Vice President of Operations, and Michelle Bradshaw, General Manager Novotel Melbourne Central & ibis Melbourne Central.

Melbourne’s tourism sector continues to flourish, with Tourism Research Australia’s latest statistics for domestic and international visitation to Melbourne showing that International visitor nights have grown by 2.9% in the year ending June 2018 to 60.9 million, with an estimated spend of $7.5 billion, an increase of 7.7%.[2] Domestic overnight visitation is also on the rise, with a 14% increase to 27.1 million room nights in 17/18, resulting in an estimated growth in spend of 5.3% to $7.8 billion3.

Predictions for 2019 see this trend set to continue, with room occupancy rates across Australia projected to reach 70.8% by December 2019, a growth of 2.7% despite an increase in room supply4. Novotel Melbourne Central and ibis Melbourne Central have already seen strong demand for bookings in 2019 across both leisure and business travel, including a number of group bookings contracted from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.