Great images, excellent results

The AccorHotels Pacific Franchise Awards were held at Elements of Byron Resort, MGallery by Sofitel on Friday 18 November as part of the Group’s seventh annual franchise conference attended by over 100 franchisees.

AccorHotels has announced the winners of the AccorHotels Pacific Franchise Awards for 2016 which recognise outstanding performance and achievements of the group’s franchise hotels.

General Manager of Mercure Gladstone, Craig Conley was named General Manager of the Year. The award recognises a leader who adopts the AccorHotels values of Innovation, Respect, Trust, Spirit of Conquest and Performance.

Novotel Wollongong Northbeach took home a hat trick winning the Service to Community and Midscale Team of the Year awards in addition to Guest Services Agent, Carl Crosby taking home the Peopleologist of the Year for his dedication to enhancing the guest experience.

Mercure Melbourne Caroline Springs was also awarded the Service to Community Award, recognising outstanding contribution to the community.

In recognition of its highly successful engagement with AccorHotels loyalty programs Accor Plus and Le Club AccorHotels, Novotel Swan Valley Vines received the coveted Loyalty Hotel of the Year award.

The Upscale Team of the Year award and the Economy Team of the Year award was won by The Playford, MGallery by Sofitel and ibis Styles The Victoria respectively. These awards recognised excellence in guest service, loyalty and operations.

Three new award categories were introduced this year, with The Inchcolm Hotel and Suites Brisbane, MGallery by Sofitel winning F&B Team of the Year for the award-winning Thomson’s Reserve restaurant and the award for Rising Star went to Chris Tannock, Assistant Manager at The Outback Pioneer property at Ayers Rock Resort. The New Franchise Hotel of the Year was awarded to Elements of Byron, MGallery by Sofitel, also the destination for the conference.

AccorHotels Pacific Chief Operating Officer, Simon McGrath, said: “Our franchise hotel partners are an important and valuable part of our business and it’s fitting that we recognise their outstanding contribution at our annual conference and awards night.
“Encouragingly the tourism sector is seeing strong performance across the country and is helping to drive the ongoing market share growth of AccorHotels and above market results for our franchise network. Underpinning the Franchise hotels’ success is their access to our powerful global distribution platforms and industry-recognised loyalty programmes – a powerful combination alongside our obsessive focus on the guest.

“We congratulate all our franchise award winners and look forward to another exciting year ahead of growth in our franchise portfolio,” McGrath said.

AccorHotels have recently announced seven new hotels to join its franchise network including Mercure Tamworth (opening December 2016), Pullman and ibis Brisbane Airport (opening 2017), The Sebel Moorabbin (opening 2017), Mercure Sydney Bankstown (opening 2018), Novotel Christchurch Airport (opening 2018) and The Sebel Yarrawonga (opening 2018).

James Wilkinson

Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Management