ACCOR HOTELS- Feel Welcome

1967: Friends Paul Dubrule and Gérard Pélisson create SIEH (Société d’investissement et d’exploitation hôteliers) hotel group and open the first Novotel hotel outside Lille in northern France.

1972: The first Novotel outside France opens at Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

1973: The Courtepaille restaurant chain is acquired; Novotel opens its first property in the Middle East in Sharjah, UAE.

1974: Ibis, the company’s first economy hotel, opens in Bordeaux, France.

1975: The three-star chain, Mercure, is acquired; the first Novotel in Africa opens in Cameroon.

1980: The four-star Sofitel brand is acquired.

1982: Jacques Borel International, a leading restaurant vouchers brand, is acquired, adding a new business type.

1983: SIEH is renamed Accor Group. The new entity has a total of 440 hotels; 1,500 public or institutional restaurants; and 35,000 employees in 45 countries; Tour operator, Africatours, is acquired.

1984: Accor buys the Quiberon thalassotherapy center and launches the Accor Thalassa brand; Novotel enters China.

1985: The Formule 1 budget hotel chain launches; Académie Accor, the first corporate university in the services sector in France, is created.

1990: The Motel 6 chain is acquired.

1991: The company adds budget chain Etap Hotels.

1999: The company acquires Red Roof Inn for $1.1 billion, adding 324 properties and 37,208 rooms; the Suitehotel concept is created.

2000: Accorhotels.com, the group’s real-time hotel reservations site, goes online.

2001: The development of the services business continues with the acquisition of Employee Advisory Resource Ltd. in the U.K.

2002: Accor Services acquires Davidson Trahaire, Australia’s leading human-resources consultancy.

2003: The first Ibis opens in Tianjin, China; Accor Services establishes itself in Panama and Peru.

2004: Groupe Lucien Barrière SAS (owns and operates casinos, luxury hotels, restaurants and bars in France and Switzerland), in which Accor has a 34% stake, is founded; the group buys nearly 30% stake in Club Méditerranée.

2006: Accor Services launches staff benefits voucher system, Ticket CESU in France and Ticket Service in Turkey.

2007: Accor sells Red Roof Inn to Citigroup Global Special Situations Group and Westbridge Hospitality Fund II LP for $1.3 billion; it creates economy brand All Seasons, and launches Pullman, an upscale brand for business travelers.

2008: MGallery, a new collection of upscale hotels, launches; A|Club, the loyalty program for Accor hotels, debuts; Ibis opens its 800th hotel.

2009: AccorHotels.com launches free iPhone app; Sofitel debuts “So SPA by Sofitel” concept; Accor sells its stake in Club Méditerranée.

2010: Suitehotel becomes Suite Novotel; Accor confirms its intention to sell its stake in Groupe Lucien Barrière.

2011: Accor extends Ibis brand, adding Ibis Styles and Ibis budget.

2012: Accor launches international women’s network: Women at Accor Generation; it marks 500 hotels in Asia-Pacific region.

2013: Sébastien Bazin appointed chairman/CEO.

2014: Accor and Huazhu (China Lodging) form alliance, creating major presence in China; Accor acquires a stake in Mama Shelter; Ibis brand family surpasses 1,700 hotels.

2015: Company becomes AccorHotels; It partners in COP21 (the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) as well as in the HeForShe movement to promote gender equality; The company takes over Fastbooking, a digital services specialist for the hospitality industry.

2016: MGallery becomes MGallery by Sofitel; AccorHotels acquires a 49% stake in Squarebreak digital platform for upscale villas in France, and a 28% stake in Oasis Collections’ digital platform offering apartments and services; Accor Hotels acquires onefinestay, which offers luxury serviced homes for rent; AccorHotels becomes an Official Paris 2024 Summer Olympics partner; it finalizes the acquisition of FRHI Hotels & Resorts and its luxury brands, Fairmont, Raffles and Swissôtel; it acquires 79% of concierge-services leader John Paul and a 30% stake in lifestyle brand 25hours Hotels; Jo&Joe hotel brand specifically designed for millennials is introduced; the company partners with Banyan Tree luxury hotels.

2017: Shareholders approve the resolution to turn AccorInvest (HotelInvest) into a subsidiary; it acquires U.S.-based private vacation rental broker Travel Keys; AccorHotels strengthens its position in Brazil with the integration of 26 hotels from BHG (Brazil Hospitality Group); It acquires 50% stake in Turkey-based resort operator Rixos Hotels & Resorts; As part of a planned brand restructuring, Accorhotels sells 62 HotelF1 assets to SNI Group (Société Nationale Immobilière-Caisse des dépôts et Consignations group); It acquires VeryChic, a European company focused on private sales of upscale and luxury hotel stays; Jo&Joe opens in Hossegor, France, in partnership with surfwear brands Quiksilver and Roxy; the company inks an agreement to acquire Gekko, a specialist in hotel-distribution solutions for business travelers, and signs a strategic partnership with Orient Express owner SNCF Group for development of the OE brand; It acquires Availpro to create digital services for the European independent hotel industry; AccorHotels.com launches Flight + Hotel reservation offer and MoodMatch, a search engine for travel experiences available in France and the U.K.; AccorHotels begins exclusive discussions with Fonds de Consolidation et de Développement des Entreprises to acquire FCDE’s stake in Groupe Noctis, which wrangles catering, events and entertainment; Accor enters similar talks with Potel & Chabot Group and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners to acquire 40% of events/receptions leader P&C Group’s share capital; It becomes a partner of thecamp, a campus dedicated to “inspiration, training, innovation and experimentation”; Accor partners with Bouygues Immobilier to create Nextdoor, new collaborative workspaces; It acquires Australia-based Mantra Group Ltd.