Accor eyes move into scenic sites

Accor SA will build about a third of its 100 planned Chinese hotels in tourist destinations as rising wealth in the country leads to growing leisure travel and oversupply in cities depresses room tariffs.

Domestic tourism in the country is "growing at a rate of knots," Michael Issenberg, chairman of Accor Asia-Pacific region, said in a May 22 interview in Sydney. That's making tourist spots more attractive than many urban sites, he said.

"If people acquire wealth, they want to travel," Issenberg said. "That's been the big change. Even five years ago, it was all cities."