SANTIAGO, CHILE— Accor SA is planning 70 new hotels in South America by 2005, according to a Reuters report. Accor will spend $200 million over the next two years in the region where it now has 115 establishments in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, the report noted. Accor Co-Chairman Gerard Pelisson was in Chile last week where, along with local partners, Accor opened a $13.3 million hotel aimed at European business people expected to visit since a free-trade agreement between Chile and the European Union took effect this year. The companys sights are set on Brazil, according to the Reuters report, where President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s economic policies since taking office in January have encouraged investors. Argentina, on the other hand, is still considered unsafe for hotel investment, despite evidence it has pulled out of a prolonged recession and is slowly recovering from a devastating currency devaluation, the report said. In Chile, Accor plans to build 10 to 12 hotels over three years in an investment worth about $50 million, according to Reuters.
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