EVRY CEDEX, FRANCE— The Accor Group, which manages 100 properties in the Middle East and North Africa under different brands, will add 10 new management contracts in the next two years, according to a report. Accor currently has 23 properties in the Gulf with a total of 4,065 rooms, the report noted. By 2005, it will have 33 hotels in the region, including 7,000 rooms. The group, which manages Sofitel City Centre hotel in Dubai and Mercure Jebel Hafit hotel in Al Ain, is launching two new properties in Dubai, according to the report. Both are located at the Dubai World Trade Centre, adjacent to the newly constructed Dubai International Convention Centre (DICC). These are the World Trade Centre Novotel and Ibis hotels, to be officially inaugurated in July. The group has opened four other properties in the Gulf, one each in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the UAE. Additionally, the report said Accor is opening two Novotel properties, one in Egypt and the other in Lebanon. Next year, it is opening three hotels under the Sofitel brand. Christophe Landais, regional director of Accor Middle East, said in the report that Accor had a 15% growth in revenue and 18% increase in net profit from its Middle East operations last year compared to 2001.
