| Paris, May 11, 2000 - On May 9, Accor agreed
to take a 40% interest in the Israeli tourism group CLAL Tourism. Accor
will exchange mainly its existing hotel participations in the country for
the new investment.
Listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, CLAL Tourism has a market capitalization
of USD 50 million.
CLAL Tourism, the country�s tourism market leader, is active in:
-
Hospitality, with 10 hotels (2,182 rooms), managed by a joint Accor/CLAL
company. Seven Mercure hotels have been managed by Accor/CLAL for
the past four years, and three additional units are expected to open in
2000, under the Novotel and Etap brands;
-
Tourism, with the Diesenhaus tour-operator and travel agencies;
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Air Transportation, with the CLAL Aviation charter airline.
Shlomo Preis, Chief Executive Officer of CLAL Tourism, noted: �This
agreement represents a new stage in the successful implementation of the
partnership between Accor and CLAL Tourism initiated four years ago, and
will enable us to expand to other tourism activities our existing cooperation
in the hotel sector.�
Accor�s equity investment in CLAL Tourism strengthens the Group�s strategic
development in this part of the world and its confidence in the huge tourism
potential of Israel and neighboring countries. �With the ongoing
peace process and the links between Egypt, Israel and Jordan � soon to
be joined, we hope, by Lebanon and Syria � this region will become one
of the world�s premier tourism basin,� noted Jean-Robert Reznik, CEO of
Accor Leisure and Tourism.
| About Clal Toruism
In order for Clal Tourism to have a global flavor in the
hotel industry, a joint venture was formed in 1995 with the famous international
tourism company, Accor.
The joint venture enables Clal Tourism to benefit from
Accor's expertise in hotel management and thus to provide more professional
services in Israel. Accor's willingness to join forces with Clal Tourism
is a vote of confidence in Israelís tourism
industry in general and in Clal Tourism, in particular.
The joint venture has two objectives:
-
To take an active role in the growth of Israelís
hotel industry (the expansion factor)
-
To manage Accor-Clal hotels under Accor brand names
To facilitate the joint venture, two companies were established:
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Accor-Clal Hotels Ltd. (link to Hotel Investment item below)
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Accor-Clal Management Ltd.
Hotel Investment
Accor brand names - Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and
Etap - are world famous. Already, Accor-Clal operates six hotels in Israel
under the Mercure brand name - in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Netanya,
Tiberias, Eilat - and one in Cyprus. There are 5 hotels currently under
construction 3 of which will bear the Novotel brand name - in Jerusalem,
at the Dead Sea and in Acre(Acco). An Ibis and an Etap hotel began construction
in 1998. At present, Accor-Clal hotels offer 1300 rooms: a further 700
will be available by the end of 1999 and 600 more in 2000.
Hotel Management
Accor owns 50% of the hotels in the Accor Group around
the world. It therefore brings to Accor-Clal the "owner's point of view".
However, Accor's main reputation is in the area of hotel management: there
is no doubt that Accor-Clal hotels - those already operating and those
to be established - will benefit greatly from Accor's reputation and experience
in hotel management and will set a new mark of excellence for management
in Israel's hotel industry. |
Accor, whose 125,000 associates are active in 140 countries around the
world, is the European leader and worldwide group present in travel, tourism
and
services with two principal international businesses:
- Hotels: 3,400 hotels in 90 countries, and travel agencies, restaurants
and casinos;
- services:cards and vouchers for companies and institutions.
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