gauravbhushanGaurav Bhushan has been appointed Chief Development Officer at AccorHotels. In this capacity he will report directly to Sébastien Bazin, Chief Executive Officer of AccorHotels, and will continue to be directly responsible for the development of the Asia Pacific region under Michael Issenberg, Chief Executive Officer of HotelServices Asia Pacific.

The appointment is effective from 1 July 2015.

He will succeed Christian Karaoglanian who, after 40 years with the Group and in full agreement with Group management, has decided to pass on the baton. Christian will be on hand during the transition to help Gaurav Bhushan set out the new organisational arrangements. From January 2016, Christian will act as Adviser to the Chairman. He will continue to represent the Group in the various Executive Boards and will be responsible for specific dossiers.

Gaurav Bhushan has an MBA from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Finance & Investments from the Securities Institute of Australia. He began his career with AccorHotels in 1995 in Australia, where he held various posts in operations and finance. In 2000 he took up his first development post as Business Development Manager for Australia and New Zealand. He was then appointed Chief Development Officer for Australia, New Zealand and Japan and extended his area of responsibility to become VP Development for North Asia and the Pacific in 2004.

Since 2006, Gaurav Bhushan has headed the Asia Pacific development teams and coordinated the development of joint ventures and partnerships in the region. It was in this capacity that he was able to secure the acquisition of Mirvac Hotels & Resorts in Australia and New Zealand and, most recently, the alliance with Huazhu in China.

AccorHotels is a Group united by a shared passion for hospitality and driven by a shared promise to make everyone Feel Welcome. Over 180,000 women and men in 3,700 AccorHotels establishments look after thousands of guests every day in 92 countries. AccorHotels is the world’s leading hotel operator and offers its customers, partners and employees:

– its dual expertise as a hotel operator and franchisor (HotelServices) and a hotel owner and investor (HotelInvest);

– a large portfolio of internationally renowned brands covering the full spectrum, with luxury (Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure, The Sebel), midscale (Novotel, Suite Novotel, Mercure, Mama Shelter, Adagio) economy (ibis, ibis Styles, ibis budget, adagio access and hotelF1) establishments;

– a powerful marketplace and loyalty program Le Club AccorHotels

– almost half a century of commitment to corporate citizenship and solidarity with the PLANET 21 program.

Accor SA shares are listed on the Euronext Paris exchange (ISIN code: FR0000120404) and traded in the USA on the OTC marketplace (Code: ACRFY)

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