Guwahati, April 23: The French multinational group, AccorHotels, is all set to bring its Novotel brand here this year, followed by Shillong next year.

The partner for both these ventures is the Guwahati-based SM JDB Estate Private Ltd.

"Top-line trends suggest that emerging cities like Guwahati are seeing double-digit growth with plenty of opportunity for brands like ours to raise the benchmark of hotels in these cities. Improved connectivity and surge in positive investor sentiment from the commercial perspective shows there is a clear need for quality facilities with world-class standards. In Guwahati, we see a significant demand and supply gap, which we seek to bridge with the opening of our hotel," Arif Patel, the vice-president (sales, marketing, distribution and loyalty) AccorHotels India, told The Telegraph.

Novotel is an upper mid-scale brand of AccorHotels and this is will be its first property in the Northeast. The hotel, to come up on GS Road here, will have 118 rooms.

Patel said with a robust sales and marketing engine in place, there will be no dearth of visibility and opportunities for the hotel.

He said Guwahati, being the gateway to the Northeast, has emerged as an important commercial hub not only within the region but also for southeast Asia.

"Ample natural resources, a flourishing tea industry and rapidly growing business districts close by, Guwahati is one of the most attractive investment destinations in India and we are eager to bring our internationally-benchmarked brands," he added.

"We are keen to help bolster tourism in the Northeast and support the government in its vision to make the region a tourist destination. We feel that cities like Guwahati and the Northeast itself are poised for significant growth and need quality hotels and related infrastructure," Patel said.

On the upcoming Novotel Guwahati, S.K. Jain, the chairman of SM JDB Estate Pvt Ltd and chief managing director, SM Group, said, "It is indeed a pleasure for us to partner with AccorHotels to introduce the first Novotel in Guwahati. We have used the best of resources available globally to ensure that the people of the Northeast receive the highest standards of service which is long overdue and bridges the gap that exists for a upscale property in the city centre."