Mark Willis

- CEO Middle East & Africa of Accor

Profile

Mark Willis holds an MBA in International Business from Oxford University in the United Kingdom and has completed a number of senior management programs at Cornell University, New York.

Previous to his appointment, he was the President for the Asia region with Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, a very dynamic area with a robust expansion strategy to open 30 properties by 2020.

With a career spanning over 30 years with leading hospitality companies, including IHG and Sun International, a large portion of his professional life was spent with the the Radisson Hotel Group (formerly Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group), where he held a number of senior leadership positions, including Senior Vice President Middle East, Africa & Turkey. It was in this role that Mark oversaw all brands within a portfolio of 85 hotels with over 80 hotels in the development pipeline.

Marks brings with him a wealth of operational experience alongside an intuitive knowledge of the Middle East and Africa, a region that he has worked in for over 12 years. He joined the Group’s Executive Committee in September 2018, when the Group finalized the acquisition of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts.

Firm Profile

Accor is a world-leading augmented hospitality group offering unique and meaningful experiences in 5,300 hotels, resorts, and residences across 110 countries. With an unrivalled portfolio of brands from luxury to economy, Accor has been providing hospitality savoir-faire for more than 50 years.

We are far more than a worldwide leader. We are more than 230,000 hospitality experts placing people at the heart of what we do, and nurturing real passion for service and achievement beyond limits.

A new Accor address opens every two days.
Because we take care of millions of guests and each of our hotels is a world in itself, where every action counts. We strive to make positive impact both locally and globally, to ensure hospitality benefits not only the few, but all.

Beyond accommodations, Accor enables new ways to live, work, and play with Food & Beverage, nightlife, wellbeing, and coworking brands.

Our Values

Our passion? Service and achievement beyond limits. Our promise? Recognise each person’s value, the talent they bring to the group and to make them a proactive part of their own development.

More curious, more connected and more assertive in their choices and experiences, our customers aspire to more authenticity, simplicity and emotion.

Our ambitions
Accor’s strategy is to accelerate hotel development, through both organic growth and acquisition. The expansion of the Accor network continues at a rapid pace. Geographically speaking, we focus on reinforcing our positions in markets where we are already leaders (Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific).

However, we are also focusing in emerging markets, notably in the Middle East, South-East Asia and Sub- Saharan Africa. We are taking a more selective approach to development going forward, based on luxury, lifestyle, resorts and residential.
Driven by the Chairman and CEO, Sébastien Bazin, our Group strategy aims to meet several key objectives:

• Build iconic and leading Brands: Increase the appeal and reputation of our brand portfolio in all segments of the market.

• Extend our global presence and leadership: Continually innovate, assert our presence in new geographic areas with high potential

• Develop leadership potential in our more than 230,000 talented employees

• Provide a state-of-the art technology to meet guests expectation and answer unmet needs.

• Act for a meaningful hospitality: Strive to make positive impact both locally and globally with our Planet 21 sustainable development program and our Accor Heartist Solidarity endowment fund.