Accor to build 50 new hotels in Turkey

Jun 07, 06 | 7:56 am

French leisure and hotel group Accor has said it would invest about 300 million euros (388 million dollars) to build 50 new hotels in Turkey by 2015.

"Out of the 50 hotels, 12 will be completed by 2009 and we are working with leading Turkish (construction) company Akfen as a strategic partner in these 12 projects," the spokesman of Accor Turkey, Korhan Ozbay, said in a statement Monday.

The hotels are to be concentrated in big cities in western Turkey, which attract the bulk of foreign tourists, but some would be built in southeastern regions such as Gaziantep and Sanliurfa, both on the Syrian border, the statement said.

The company, which operates in 140 countries and has an annual turnover of seven billion euros, said the projects would create jobs for 3,500 people.

Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts are a major destination for European holiday makers.

A record number of foreigners -- about 20.5 million -- visited Turkey last year.

The tourism industry, which is a vital source of foreign revenue and employment, earned the country 18.15 billion dollars, a 14-percent increase from 2004.