Accor has tried to gain a foothold in the Chinese market with its Grand Mercure brand, known locally as Mei Jue, and Marriott plans to more than double the number of its hotels in China in the next three years.

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To meet demand, Accor is already adding another 80 rooms, and wants to open another 50 Ibis hotels by 2010.

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To the south, companies such as Accor and Hilton are developing other luxury properties.

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Accor's Ms Yiu says that Chinese tourists making return trips to Europe want to stay in nicer, four- and five-star hotels.

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Mr Cohen of Accor thinks that some hotel chains will actually grow during the recession, if only because there is bound to be further consolidation.

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Patrick Basset of Accor says his firm's 15 hotels in Vietnam already employ 3, 000 people and he expects the staff to double in the next three years.

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