Abstract
Accor is a French company, born after the merger in 1983 between Novotel (created in 1963) and JBI (Jacques Borel International, created in 1967). Today, the company can be found in 140 countries all over the world, hires 168 500 people and had a € 7622 million turnover in 2005. There is the hotel business and complementary services, with 3829 hotels in 90 countries, covering the whole market, from cheap hotels to luxury hotels (Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis, Red Roof Inn, Etap Hotel, and Formule 1). These activities account for a turnover of 1830 millions € in 2005. On the other hand, there are services to businesses and local authorities run by Accor Services. This field serves 13 millions customers in 32 countries and has turnover of 597 millions € in 2005. The Novotel group, forerunner of Accor, opened its first hotels abroad from 1972, only five years after the opening of the first Novotel Hotel in Lille (France). In 1973, Novotel was present in 6 European countries (England, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany).
