Accor unveils new Luxury and Lifestyle division appointments
It comes as Mark Willis has been appointed as advisor to Sébastien Bazin, chairman and chief executive officer of Accor
Accor has announced the appointments of Gilda Perez-Alvarado, Maxime d’Angeac, and Omer Acar within its luxury and lifestyle division effective from 1 January 2024.
Perez-Alvarado and d’Angeac have been appointed chief executive officer and artistic director of orient express respectively. Perez-Alvarado will also remain chief strategy officer of the Accor Group.
Perez-Alvarado started her career at PwC before joining JLL in 2004. Working in the company’s hotel and hospitality division, she has accrued nearly two decades of experience providing top-tier strategic advice to the industry’s largest owners and investors including sovereign wealth funds, private equity, global brands, and family offices/UHNWIs.
In her most recent role as Global CEO of JLL hotels and hospitality, she was responsible for overseeing the global investment sales, debt and equity placement, strategic advisory and asset management services, offering leading expertise throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.
In addition, she led the global hotel desk, the group’s cross-border investment sales team. She holds board and membership positions at a number of high-profile organisations, among which Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc, Cornell University Board of Trustees, World Travel & Tourism Council and IREFAC. She joined Accor in October 2023 as chief strategy officer and member of Accor’s management board.
As part of her role, she is in charge of overseeing global strategy, relations with hotel owners, and strategic partnerships. In January 2024, she will also be appointed CEO Orient Express.
Meanwhile, Acar has been appointed chief executive officer of Fairmont, replacing Mark Willis who becomes advisor to Sébastien Bazin, chairman and chief executive officer of Accor. Acar will remain chief executive officer of Raffles, based in New York.
Acar holds degrees from Hotel Institute Montreux and Hawaii Pacific University, and successfully completed Cornell’s Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management certificate programme. He started his career at Four Seasons in various operational positions at several hotels in the United States and Egypt. He moved to Harrods in England as group director of food and beverage in 2005, was appointed general manager of the Ritz in Paris in 2006, and then moved to the Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris in the same capacity in 2011.
In March 2023, Acar joined Accor as CEO Raffles and Orient Express and serves as a member of the Group’s Luxury and Lifestyle Executive Committee. In January 2024, he will take the lead of Raffles and Fairmont. Based in New York City, he also has the responsibility of representing Accor on the North American market.
