Accor Reorgs Brands Into Two Divisions

Hotel giant Accor is rearranging its structure to create two business divisions to accelerate development around the world.

The France-based company is to establish the two divisions, which will be called "Economy, Midscale & Premium" and "Luxury & Lifestyle," from 1 October. Accor said the move would create "a clear and transparent model for each of its business lines."

Economy, Midscale & Premium will include mainstream brands such as Ibis, Novotel, Mercure, Swissotel, Movenpick and Pullman. The division will have a total of 4,816 properties and another 948 hotels in development.

This division will also incorporate leadership positions in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, which will be centred around four regional headquarters in Paris, Sao Paulo, Singapore and Shanghai.

The Luxury & Lifestyle division will encompass Raffles and Orient Express, Fairmont, Sofitel and MGallery, plus lifestyle joint venture Ennismore. It will cover a total of 488 hotels around the world, plus another 266 in the current development pipeline.

"Changing our organizational structure is a natural step in the transformation initiated several years ago, which turned Accor into an asset-light group that is more agile and efficient, with a global profile and which has become a key player in luxury and lifestyle," said Accor chairman and CEO Sebastien Bazin. "By evolving from a generalist to a multi-specialist model, our aim is to further improve Accor's appeal in the eyes of owners, partners and investors. We capitalize on our leadership positions to accelerate our development, better focus talents and expertise, and improve our performance."