December 7, 2012 - Accor announces a new brand-based organization of its operations in Europe, effective as of January 1st, 2013, with the aim of anticipating trends in the hotel sector and strengthening its brands. The hotel market is facing many major challenges today. Greater segmentation in the market and increasingly specific customer expectations call for strongly positioned brands. These trends offer the group an opportunity to reinvent the business model of its brands in line with their particular positioning and segment, triggering the need of setting up dedicated teams to each brand.

This new organization structure concerns Accor's activities in 15 countries in Western and Central Europe across eight brands: Pullman, MGallery, Mercure, Novotel, Suite Novotel, ibis, ibis Styles and ibis budget. Altogether, this represents over 210,000 rooms and nearly 2,000 hotels, i.e. half of the group's global network.

At the head of each brand or group of brands is a Chief Operating Officer Europe, assisted by a support team reporting to him, dedicated to the brand and comprising expertise in key areas such as marketing, human resources, management control and technical standards. The geographical scope of this organization structure is divided into four main regions: Northern Europe, Southern Europe, Central Europe and France, with a Brand SVP for each region.

Accor is the first player in the hotel sector to put this type of organization in place. It will strengthen the professionalization of teams, which will now be dedicated to a single brand, making the brands stronger and more coherent.

"This organization structure will enable us to develop first-rate specialists in each market segment and rely on teams that are entirely focused on their brands and have perfect knowledge of both their customers and their competitors", explains Yann Caillère, President and Chief Operating Officer, in charge of worldwide operations. "It is also essential to strengthen our relations with our partners and at the same time it will offer new development opportunities to our employees."

Indeed, the new organization structure will enrich exchanges between the nearly 400 franchised owners operating hotels in this region. They will be able to dialogue with the dedicated teams, giving them easier access to the brand manager, and there will be greater opportunities for exchange of best practices between European franchisees. For the group employees involved, it also offers new development opportunities, since they will be working in a more international environment. The brands' management programs will also be strengthened, with a modernization of the training courses offered.

In the framework of this new brand-based organization of operations in Europe, the following appointments have been made:

Christophe Alaux, Chief Operating Officer, Mercure & MGallery Europe
Christophe Alaux is a graduate of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris and holds an advanced degree in Management. He began his career in 1990 at PSA Peugeot Citroën as labor relations manager in a production center. From 1994 to 1999, he carried out various missions for Accenture in the field of organization and performance improvement. He then joined Promodès, where he served as Vice President Organization and Human Resources for Continent before joining Carrefour France's Executive Committee as Vice President Organization, Systems and Supply Chain. After a period as an operating executive at a Carrefour hypermarket, Christophe Alaux was appointed Regional Operating Officer of Carrefour in Shanghai and Zhejiang province in 2005. In 2007, he became Chief Operating Officer and member of the Executive Committee of Carrefour Taiwan. In 2008, Christophe Alaux joined Accor as Chief Operating Officer, Hotels France. He will keep this responsibility within the new organization.

Jean-Paul Philippon, Chief Operating Officer, Novotel & Suite Novotel Europe
Jean-Paul Philippon is a graduate of the Clermont Ferrand Hotel School and has a technical diploma in hotel management from the Tarbes Chamber of Commerce. He joined Accor in 1979 as General Manager Novotel Marseille Est before becoming Deputy Director Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Marseille region in 1983. He subsequently served as Regional Director Sofitel and later as Chief Operating Officer Sofitel Europe between 1987 and 1997. In 1998 he was appointed Regional Director, Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Northern Latin America and in 2002 became Managing Director of Ibis France. He has served as Chief Operating Officer, Hotels Southern Europe since 2007.

Christophe Vanswieten, Chief Operating Officer, Pullman Europe
Christophe Vanswieten is a graduate of the COOVI Hotel Management School in Brussels. He began his career in the Novotel Brussels Airport as F&B manager. He then managed various Novotel hotels in Belgium before being appointed Chief Operating Officer Accor Belgium. He became Chief Operating Officer BeNeLux in 2006. In July 2009, he became Chief Operating Officer, Accor Hotels Benelux, Switzerland and Scandinavia and Director of the All Seasons brand. In 2012, he was Chief Operating Officer BeNelux, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Peter Verhoeven, Chief Operating Officer, Ibis brands Europe
Peter Verhoeven holds an MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor's Degree from the Hotelschool The Hague. He began his career in operations with Golden Tulip International in Ghana and Gran Dorado in the Netherlands. After 10 years with Disneyland Paris in senior leadership roles in Operations, Marketing and Sales, he joined Avis in the United Kingdom as Director of Sales for Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia. In 2007, Peter Verhoeven joined Accor as Managing Director, The Netherlands. He has served as Chief Operating Officer for Accor in Germany since 2009.

About Accor
Accor, the world's leading hotel operator and market leader in Europe, is present in 90 countries with 4,400 hotels and more than 530,000 rooms. Accor's broad portfolio of hotel brands - Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure, Adagio, ibis, all seasons/ibis styles, Etap Hotel/ibis budget, hotelF1 and Motel 6 - provide an extensive offer from luxury to budget. With 145,000 employees worldwide, the Group offers to its clients and partners nearly 45 years of know-how and expertise.