The first Ibis Budget is now open in Morocco. The first Ibis Budget is now open in Morocco.

 Accor has opened its first Ibis Budget branded hotel in Tangier, Morocco.

The opening signals the start of the global conversion of all Accor’s Etap hotels to the new Ibis Budget brand.

The entire network, a total of 518 hotels in 17 countries, will gradually be converted to the Ibis Budget banner.

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Accor has also announced a growth target of 600 new Ibis Budget hotels in 20 countries by 2015.

Accor president and COO Yann Caillere told Hotelier Middle East: “What we found is the brand awareness of Ibis is so strong we thought in terms of guest perspective and owner perspective, if you want to give more strength to your brand and development, it was easier for us to put Ibis as the mega brand and to rebrand Etap to be Ibis Budget”.

He said the aim was to have “roughly 70%” of the network rebranded by September 2012 ahead of a major advertising campaign and promotion.

“It’s not just a matter of changing the signage, it’s to revisit the concept and to give more freshness, revisit the product itself, the level of service, and to work much more on the bedding side,” added Caillere.

The move is part of the company’s “brand dynamisation” strategy, announced in September.

Ibis will become a mega-brand comprising Ibis, Ibis Budget and Ibis Styles, previously the All Seasons brand.