“We believe Accor has a role to play as a responsible investor in Myanmar, providing employment opportunities, building capacity and giving back to the community,” said Bazin.
Michael Issenberg, Accor’s chief operating officer for the Asia-Pacific region, said that Southeast Asia has long been a market focus for them. As Myanmar’s tourism industry develops, he added, the company sees significant growth potential for international hotel operators with long-term experience in the region.
“Our approach to development in Myanmar will be very much people-focused –providing employment opportunities and working with communities to ensure mutually-beneficial and sustainable development,” Issenberg said during the recent Women’s Forum 2013.
“We expect to hire over 1,500 people in Myanmar over the next few years and women will play a big role. We strongly believe that women in business are a vector of positive change and progress in society.”
Bazin also mentioned that Accor employs 80,000 women worldwide, including more than 28,000 in the Asia Pacific region.
“We believe in inclusion and diversity, not only for women to prosper in their careers, but also for the success of the business as a whole. Today, 27 percent of our hotel general managers worldwide are women and by 2015, we aim to increase this to 35 percent, with a long-term goal of parity,” he said.
Earlier this month, Accor signed with Myat Min Company, a local hotel operator, to manage three more hotels in Myanmar. The three new properties, now under construction, will be Pullman Yangon Myat Min, Sebel Yangon Myat Min and Novotel Inle Lake Myat Min.
The 300-room Pullman Yangon Myat Min is expected to be completed in 2015, making it the first Pullman hotel in Myanmar. The 100-room Sebel Yangon Myat Min will be a premium serviced apartment hotel for guests looking for long-stay accommodation, while the 121-room Novotel Inle Lake Myat Min, located on the banks of Inle Lake, will open in 2014.
In February this year, Accor announced the development of three newly built hotels in Myanmar – the MGallery hotel in Naypyidaw, the Novotel Yangon Max, and the Novotel Mandalay Mingalar – representing the group’s 18th market in the region.
“As the first major international hotel operator to sign hotel projects in the country, we look forward to being a part of the development of Myanmar’s tourism infrastructure,” said Robert Murray, Accor’s chief operating officer for Southeast and Northeast Asia.
Accor has a presence in 92 countries with nearly 3,500 hotels and 440,000 rooms. Accor’s broad portfolio of hotel brands includes Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, and Novotel. It aims to operate 700 hotels in Asia-Pacific by 2015.
The group is committed to participating in Myanmar’s transformation by providing employment opportunities, helping women to empower themselves and giving back to the community through the Accor Foundation. The Foundation has supported more than 180 projects worldwide since its creation in 2008, according to the Accor website.
source: Eleven Myanmar
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