Accor has opened the Pullman Gurgaon Central Park, the group’s 500th hotel in the region. The opening also marks the debut of the Pullman brand in India. Pullman Gurgaon Central Park represents Accor’s 17th hotel in India, complementing its existing five brands (Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, ibis and Formule 1) in the country, which range from luxury to budget. Located in Gurgaon, the corporate satellite city of New Delhi, Pullman Gurgaon Central Park features 285 rooms. Consistent with other Pullman properties worldwide, Pullman Gurgaon Central Park is ideal for MICE initiatives, with over 17,000 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting spaces and connectivity solutions throughout the hotel. With almost 95,000 rooms in 16 countries, Accor has embarked on an ambitious program of expansion in Asia Pacific, and aims to operate over 700 hotels by 2015. In India alone, Accor expects to operate 23 hotels by year’s end, with a goal of 90 hotels by 2015. “The Asia Pacific region today is one of Accor’s strongest areas of focus, as is evidenced by our rapid pace of expansion in recent years,” said Michael Issenberg, chairman and chief operating officer of Accor Asia Pacific. “Since we commenced operations in the region in 1982, Accor’s network has grown from one hotel in Singapore to 500 hotels in 16 countries today. “Two years ago we celebrated our 400th hotel in the region and the rate of expansion since has accelerated significantly as we are on track to open 100 hotels within 2012 in Asia Pacific alone,” he concluded.