Lokesh Sabharwal appointed VP - Development, India, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka - Accor

Company Brief

New Delhi, May 19, 2011

Accor, the world's leading hotel operator and market leader in Europe appoints Lokesh Sabharwal as the Vice President - Development, India, Nepal, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka - ACCOR. Lokesh Sabharwal is a professional hotelier with over 13 years of experience in hotel development, consulting and operations.

Announcing this new appointment, Gaurav Bhuahan, Senior Vice President Development Asia Pacific said, "We are delighted to welcome Lokesh to the team and are excited in being able to draw on his extensive expertise and his international experience for our continued development in the region."

Before assuming responsibilities with Accor, on April 1, 2010, Lokesh was Director Development, South West Asia for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group). During his four years with IHG, Lokesh was responsible for originating, evaluating, negotiating and managing key management contracts in India besides supporting the strategy team for the development and execution of the South West Asia growth strategy.

Lokesh has also worked with HVS International, where he was responsible for directing valuations and feasibility studies - economic planning, market demand studies and financial analysis. Lokesh has valuable hotel operations experience in India and Australia with the Global Hyatt Corporation.

Excited about leading the development initiative at Accor, Lokesh Sabharwal said, "This is an excellent time to be joining Accor in India. My role presents me with an opportunity to be part of a very dynamic group and the only international hotel company in India with a comprehensive development strategy for brands covering all segments from luxury to budget. We have a very focused development strategy for the subcontinent and for our brands in the country."

With a Hotel Management degree from the International College of Hotel Management, Adelaide, Australia, Lokesh holds a Diplome Culinaire d'Hoteliere from Le Cordon Bleu. He also holds a Certificate in Real Estate, Development and Hotel Investment from Cornell-Nanyang, Singapore.

Lokesh is based at Accor India office in New Delhi.

Accor, the world's leading hotel operator and market leader in Europe, is present in 90 countries with 4,200 hotels and more than 500,000 rooms.

For further information, please contact:

PR Pundit

Noopur Sharma Bose

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