Skift Take
If more than a month goes by without an acquisition or partnership announcement from Accor, does it even count? There are high expectations from the Middle East and Africa division in the wake of recent deals, especially from owners that may be anxious about potential disruptions.
Size can slow companies down — and in a competitive hospitality market, speed is everything. For the acquisitive hotel giant Accor, that presents unique challenges in the key and growing Middle East and northern African market. Its portfolio in the region has grown nearly 20 percent overnight. That growth spurt raises the question of whether its owners, previously used to dealing with a single-brand operator, can be satisfied with being part of a larger group of more than 30 brands.
With the acquisition of Mövenpick in September 2018, Accor’s portfolio grew by 85 hotels globally and 55 properties in the Middle East/Africa region alone.
Headed by the region’s CEO Mark Willis, the division oversees 265 hotels with over 60,000 rooms across 36 countries, with nearly 200 hotels and in excess of 40,000 rooms in the pipeline. His work is being supported by two chief operating officers responsible for different sub-regions: the North Africa, Levant, the Kingdom of
