Accor, Courcouronnes, France, has moved its “luxury and upscale” marketing operations from Paris to Singapore.

As Accor celebrates the launch of several high-end hotels across Asia-Pacific including Sofitel So Singapore, Pullman Shanghai South, and the signing of Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour at the Sydney International Convention Centre, the group has moved its global luxury and upscale marketing operations from Paris to Singapore, in a move that signals the growing importance of Asia-Pacific in these segments.

With Asian consumers now accounting for almost half of global luxury sales, Accor decided that a move to Singapore would bring new insights into luxury and upscale hotels and place the nerve centre of its marketing operations closer to where its customer base is growing fastest.

Accor, the world’s leading hotel operator and market leader in Europe, is present in 92 countries with more than 3,500 hotels, 450,000 rooms and more than 160,000 employees worldwide.

“Over the past decade Asia-Pacific’s economic development has been remarkable, and, as travellers become more affluent, their desire to travel and explore the world grows, making this region the fastest growing luxury market in the world,” said Michael Issenberg, chairman and CEO Accor Asia-Pacific.

“We currently have more than 170 luxury/upscale hotels with over 37,000 rooms in the region, plus over 70 luxury and upscale hotels under development. This means that Accor will open, on average, a new luxury and upscale hotel in Asia Pacific every month for the next five years.

“With Sofitel celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Accor has a long history in luxury and upscale hotels and our credentials in this segment continue to grow with our expanding pipeline in this sector, including more than 30 Pullman hotels in China alone,” he said.

The move of the luxury and upscale global marketing team to Asia follows a restructuring of Accor’s business model around geographical lines, with all its brands now divided into three segments: luxury and upscale; midscale; and economy/budget. The luxury and upscale segments, now emanating from Singapore, include Accor’s Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure and The Sebel brands. China alone already has 19 Sofitel and 15 Pullman hotels, making it the number one market for these brands outside Europe.

“Asian travellers are very demanding and the standard of hotels in this region is very high. We believe that Asia right now is a hub of creativity, innovation and transformation and that this environment provides the perfect breeding ground for us to take our luxury and upscale brands to the next level,“ said Rick Harvey Lam, senior vice president global marketing, Accor luxury and upscale brands, who recently made the move from Paris to Singapore.

With its central location, excellent infrastructure and business-friendly climate, Singapore is an ideal hub from which to manage Accor’s growth in the region, and brings the company’s leadership closer to more of Accor’s core luxury and upscale markets.

In coming years, Asia will replace North-America and Europe as the key market for travel, especially in the upmarket and luxury segments. And while China and India are leading the way, other markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines also have a growing affluent middle class with increasing disposable incomes, and a real thirst for travel. Accor has luxury and upscale hotels in all these regions and will continue to grow its high-end footprint in all these countries.

As one of the world’s largest and oldest operators of luxury hotels, Accor aims to make its Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Grand Mercure and The Sebel brands the reference point for travellers throughout the Asia Pacific region and globally