Accor's coffers swell up

Paris._ Accor, the French hotel group that owns establishments in the Caribbean and recently opened one in Cuba, ratcheted up gross benefits for 474 million Euros in 2001, 6% more than the year before, sources close to the company revealed.

As far as this year is concerned, Accor foresees the opening of 224 hotels, thus adding 25,116 more hotel rooms.

On the other hand, this year the company plans on opening 14 establishments under the Sofitel trademark, 22 under the Novotel brand and 42 under Mercure. At the same time, Accor is working on enhancing its resort arsenal by building 55 Ibis hotels, 45 Etap hotels, 9 Formule 1, 25 Motel 6 and 7 Red Roof Inns.