Hotel group Accor has added another hotel to its pipeline in Armenia, with the signing of Movenpick Tsaghkadzor. The country, with its neighbours Georgia and Azerbaijan, present new opportunities for international hotel brands to grow their presence, as international tourism in the region starts to grow.
The 198 room Movenpick Resort Tsaghkadzor will be a new build in one of the country’s leading wellness and ski resorts. The aim is for the hotel to open during 2026, when it will offer guests a great location close to the area’s ski slopes and other tourist attractions. Developer 4A Capital LLC will build the hotel, and is planning to offer some of the hotel rooms to investors as fractional ownership investments, the first time such an approach has been used in Armenia.
The hotel joins Accor’s growing pipeline of properties in Armenia, where the European hotel giant has already committed to a Movenpick branded hotel in Yerevan, joining an already trading Ibis hotel. Also in the region, the former Golden Palace resort and spa will be reopening under the Mercure brand, during 2025. The seven storey block will have 120 rooms, with future plans to add a casino.
Another international brand group, Kempinski, is also working towards launching its hotel brand in Armenia. In 2023, it revealed it would develop Kempinski Residences Yerevan, a combination of branded residences and long stay aparthotel suites. Local developer developer Renshin Urban Investments will deliver the properties as part of its planned ArtLife Teryan project in the country’s capital.
In next door Georgia, Accor recently opened the 121 room Ibis Styles hotel in Batumi, the second-largest city in the country, and its leading Black Sea resort. Accor already has 10 hotels open in the country with a further 15 in development. These include an Ibis at Tblisi airport, a Mercure and Novotel in Batumi.
Other international groups making their mark in Georgia include Wyndham, with developments for its Tryp, Wyndham Grand and Trademark Collection in the pipeline. Radisson too has hotels coming up in locations including Tbilisi, Gudauri and Utsera. The 85 room Utsera Resort hotel in the Racha region will open in 2025 under the Radisson Individuals banner. Not to be left out, IHG Hotels and Resorts has Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza hotels in development, both in Batumi.
In Azerbaijan, international brands are also starting to appear, with a cluster in the capital Baku, which also opens onto the Caspian Sea. Once again Accor is present, with the arrival of the Movenpick Winter Park in Baku. Hilton is nearing the opening of the 180 room Garden Inn in Baku. And Nikki Beach Hotels & Resorts is planning to test the market with the launch of a 145 room resort and spa in the city, which is expected to open in autumn 2025.
