France, Italy, Spain, Morocco and Egypt See Major Tourism Momentum as Karelle Lamouche Takes Charge of Accor’s Three Thousand Hotels Across Europe and North Africa

Published on December 3, 2025

The announcement that Accor has appointed Karelle Lamouche to lead its vast hotel network across Europe and North Africa underscores a major strategic shift for one of the world’s largest hospitality groups. This development, highlighted in the headline Europe And North Africa Strengthen Tourism Leadership As Accor Elevates Karelle Lamouche To Oversee 3,000 Hotels Across The Region, reinforces how the region, already a global tourism powerhouse, is preparing for even greater visitor movement and hotel demand. The headline’s focus on Europe and North Africa mirrors the introduction’s emphasis: the appointment marks a critical leadership moment for Accor as travel inflows, hotel conversions and tourism upgrades accelerate across France, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Egypt, and neighbouring markets. With around 3,000 hotels under her scope—representing close to 40 per cent of Accor’s worldwide room inventory—Lamouche’s expanded responsibility positions the brand to capture upcoming tourism surges across a culturally diverse and economically dynamic region.

A New Leadership Era For Accor’s Regional Markets

Accor has confirmed that Karelle Lamouche, a senior hospitality executive with nearly three decades of experience at the Paris-headquartered group, will now take charge of its premium, midscale and economy portfolio across Europe and North Africa. The role places her at the helm of one of the company’s most influential regional clusters, covering iconic travel markets such as France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria.

Lamouche previously served as the chief operating officer for the same region. Her new position expands her authority to strategic development, performance optimisation, owner relationships, and multi-brand operations across thousands of hotels. This extensive portfolio includes some of the most recognisable brands to global travellers, such as Novotel, Mercure, Pullman, Ibis and MGallery.

Her background—spanning hotel operations, commercial strategy and country-level management—offered the foundation for assuming responsibility for nearly 40 per cent of the company’s worldwide hotel rooms.

Europe And North Africa: A Tourism Powerhouse Poised For Growth

The region Lamouche will oversee remains one of the most important tourism zones in the world. According to official tourism bodies across Europe, the continent continues to rank as the most visited global region, bolstered by strong air connectivity, cultural heritage and diversified accommodation choices. North Africa, meanwhile, has seen year-on-year increases in foreign arrivals, strengthened by expanded visa facilitation, enhanced air routes and active tourism investment programmes in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt.

Accor’s strategic position across these markets offers opportunities to expand through conversions, new-build hotel projects, and increased guest loyalty programme enrolments. The company’s regional strength is reinforced by operational systems, distribution platforms and brand recognition that extend across leisure, business travel and meetings-and-events segments.

What Travelers Should Know

For travellers heading to Europe or North Africa, Accor’s elevated leadership framework may translate into several advantages:

Improved Guest Experiences

With a stronger focus on operational excellence under Lamouche’s leadership, travellers can expect upgraded service consistency, quicker digital responses, streamlined check-in processes and more personalised loyalty benefits across participating hotels.

Expanded Hotel Choices

Given the region’s steady pace of hotel openings and refurbishments, visitors will continue to find more accommodation options at various price points—especially in gateway cities such as Paris, London, Rome, Marrakech, Casablanca, Cairo and Barcelona.

Greater Sustainability In Stays

Accor’s global commitments to energy efficiency, waste reduction and community engagement are likely to have renewed emphasis across Europe and North Africa. Travelers can expect clearer sustainability labels, eco-certified stays and greener operations.

Why The Appointment Matters for Tourism Stakeholders

Lamouche’s leadership will influence hotel owners, tourism boards and government partners, especially as Europe and North Africa prepare for heightened visitor inflows in the coming years. Large-scale sporting events, maintained regional connectivity, and the rise of cultural tourism continue to increase occupancy levels across the region.

Her ability to align brand performance with owner objectives is widely recognised within the group. This is particularly important for destinations recovering from seasonal demand fluctuations or seeking to stabilise year-round tourism.

A Strong Foundation Built Over Three Decades

Lamouche joined Accor in 1998, beginning her journey as a hotel general manager. Over time, she played a significant role in shaping Accor’s brand network and operational strategy. Her experience across global and regional leadership roles has enabled her to understand market-specific challenges—such as diversifying demand, strengthening distribution channels and ensuring profitable hotel performance.

Her appointment follows the tenure of Patrick Mendes, who previously led the region from 2023 until mid-2025.

Looking Ahead: What This Means For Global Travelers

The consolidation of leadership in Europe and North Africa arrives at a time when travellers are showing renewed interest in multi-country itineraries, regional cultural routes, culinary travel and city breaks. With Accor enhancing its leadership structure, travellers may see more seamless cross-border experiences, improved loyalty programme integration, wider lifestyle offerings and elevated hotel standards.

A Forward-Looking Note

As Europe and North Africa remain central to global travel flows, Accor’s decision to empower a seasoned leader reflects the company’s ambition to keep shaping the future of hospitality. For travellers, tourism operators and hotel partners, this leadership shift signals stability, innovation and preparedness for an even more competitive travel landscape.