Accor has confirmed that it is to move forward with a "dynamic" expansion of its portfolio over the next three years, with 101,000 rooms currently in its pipeline.

It comes as the hotel operator - responsible for the Mercure, Novotel and Ibis brands - saw like-for-like revenue grow by 7.1 per cent in 2010. The group reported a 55 per cent drop in net debt over the 12-month period, while more than 200 new hotels were unveiled - the majority under asset-light structures.

Accor chair and chief executive officer Denis Hennequin said: "Accor's performance in 2010 attests to the effectiveness of its business model and has laid a firm foundation for the future. "Our objective will be to accelerate the execution of our strategy, with three priorities: to be more ambitious for our brands, to promote our services and expertise more effectively, and to step up implementation of our expansion plan."