French hotel firm Accor is navigating the effects of the continuing war in Iran as it moves forward with broader company goals.
Accor's hotels in the Middle East started to see impacts to their business beginning in mid-March, Group CFO Martine Gerow said on the company's first-quarter earnings call. Despite that disruption, Accor's overall hotel revenue per available room and net unit growth was strong in the first quarter.
Accor’s global occupancy increased in the period by 1% to 61.5%, its average daily rate increased 3.4% to €112 ($131) and its revenue per available room increased 5.1% to €69.
However, RevPAR fell 9% in the United Arab Emirates, which makes up 27% of Accor's hotel room count in the Middle East and Africa.
“The conflict in the Middle East, which began at the end of February, has since severely disrupted the macroeconomic and geopolitical context. Activity in the Middle East, primarily in the United Arab Emirates, has been strongly impacted,” Accor's earnings release said.
Overall, the Middle East accounted for 8% of Accor’s room portfolio at the end of December 2025 and 12% of its 2025 room revenue. The UAE makes up 3% of Accor's global network.
While Gerow said Accor expects continued declines in the region in April, some positives do exist. Schools have reopened in the UAE and “air traffic is also increasing in the GCC.” Performance in Egypt and Saudi Arabia is holding up as well, she added.
Accor's other global regions are shoring up the company's performance, she said. For example, that decline in the UAE was canceled out by a 9.1% RevPAR increase across Accor's U.S. premium, midscale and economy division.
Gerow said there don't appear to be any “cracks in demand” in future bookings outside of the Middle East, and a pickup in demand in the Mediterranean and North Africa is occurring.
Accor’s global revenue on a constant-currency basis rose 2.3% year over year to €1.31 billion, Gerow said, although if calculated in “reported change,” that metric shows a 2.7% decline.
On the development front, Accor's “pipeline continues to grow at a healthy double-digit pace, up 10.3% (year-on-year) in the first quarter … and that is consistent with our goal of accelerating toward the higher end of our 3% to 5% midterm guidance,” Gerow said.
Two other points of interest came up on the earnings call. First, Accor launched another tranche of share buybacks, this time with a value of €250 million. Second, Gerow addressed Accor's April 1 memorandum of understanding with Essendi and Blackstone to divest its hotel assets — a 30.56% stake — for “up to €975 million”
She added Accor is confident it will complete that deal within the second quarter. Accor will receive €675 million upon closing and an earn-out of up to €300 million.
As of press time, Accor’s stock was trading on the Euronext Stock Exchange at €42.82 per share, a decrease of 0.9% year to date. Euronext was up 2.25% over the same period.