On an occasion marked by emotion, remembrance and a sense of solidarity, a number of Accor senior executives, including Cathy Kopp, General Manager Human Resources, attended ceremonies held in Thailand to commemorate the December 26, 2004 disaster, when a tsunami of unprecedented scale killed several hundred thousand people in the Indian Ocean region.
The Thai government organized three ceremonies in the Phang Nga region the December 26, 2005, attended by thousands of people from Thailand and a number of countries worldwide.
Accor Thailand employees were on hand to welcome and support the families of customers.
Sadly, Accor experienced many losses at the Khao Lak site—129 customers who died or are still missing, as well as 54 employees who lost their lives, some of them while trying to help other victims.
The service was attended by 350 people, including French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, the ambassadors of the 43 countries affected by the disaster, and Accor representatives.
Accor will also be represented at ceremonies scheduled in Thailand for December 26 on sites that were struck by the tsunami. Thailand’s Prime Minister will lay the first stone for a tsunami memorial at an event to be attended by victims’ families of all nationalities.
Read the press release
Views of the Sofitel Khao Lak hotel on August 17th 2005
As with previous missions, Accor supported the experts by providing all needed assistance, especially with regard to logistics. A very thorough search of the foundations was carried out and no bodies were found.
Following the search, the hotel site was again cleaned up.
August 17 photos of the Sofitel in Khao Lak
A tsunami warning was issued on July 24 by the Thai authorities. The warning came after an earthquake struck the Nicobar islands off the coast of Thailand and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Group’s two hotels located in Phuket, the Novotel and the Mercure, were evacuated.
After the unprecedented catastrophe on December 26, the training given to staff and the warning systems that were introduced enabled our teams to take all necessary measures to protect customers and employees.
Accor hotels in London unite their efforts to help rebuild Indonesia
In January 2005, Accor hotels in London sent out an appeal to customers and employees for donations to help victims of the tsunami.
Carried out as part of the international partnership between Plan and Accor, the initiative has raised €33,330 to rebuild the school in Peukan Bada, a village near Banda Aceh that was totally destroyed by the tsunami.
In addition to rebuilding the school, the funds will also be used to install a sanitation system and equip three classrooms for use by approximately 40 children.
Plan has been active in the region since the catastrophe, distributing drinking water and basic necessities and rehabilitating wells and health and sanitation facilities.
On July 4, French disaster relief agency Groupe de Secours Catastrophe Français issued a press release concerning Accor’s contribution to their efforts in Southeast Asia.
Read the press release
In response to reports in the Thai press, Accor would like to clearly state that €17 million in casualty insurance claims was paid to the owner of the hotel in Khao Lak. No payments were made to Accor, which manages the Sofitel.
Six months later
At Accor’s initiative, a minute of silence in homage to the tsunami victims was observed on Sunday, June 26 at 10:30 a.m. by the people present on the grounds of the Sofitel in Khao Lak.
The same day in Paris, Accor took part in a memorial ceremony on the Trocadéro esplanade organized by the French association for victims and survivors of the tsunami.
On Saturday, June 25, the second meeting was held with families of French tsunami victims, at the initiative of French Foreign Affairs Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. Following the meeting, which Accor attended, the Minister announced that the search for bodies would begin again and that a day of remembrance would be organized in cooperation with the victims’ associations.
Read the clarification
Views of the Sofitel Khao Lak hotel taken June 17-20, 2005
Jean-Marc Espalioux, Chairman of the Management Board.
interview de Jean-Marc Espalioux
Six months after the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia, Jean-Marc Espalioux, in an interview with business daily Les Echos, discussed Accor’s efforts to help rebuild the region and reviewed the current state of the Sofitel site in Khao Lak.
He also announced the creation of a scholarship fund for the orphans of hotel employees. The fund will also be used to support orphans of guests who were staying in the hotel at the time.
Read the article (in French only)
Accor has proposed support and assistance to experts searching the Khao Lak site
Further to the request of the Families of Khao Lak Victims Association, Accor has proposed support and assistance to the teams of French specialists who are currently undergoing new investigations of the site.
Accor has proposed to facilitate and pay for travel, lodging and food services for the firemen and search dog teams' specialists dispatched to Khao Lak, who have been greeted by Accor teams on site. Accor has proposed ground transportation and drivers for the duration of their mission, as well. Accor has done everything possible to facilitate the mission of the new search team sent by the French Government.
At a press conference on Accor¹s development in Thailand and Vietnam, Michael Issenberg, Accor Managing Director Asia-Pacific, said : "We're doing everything possible to help the families."
AFP dispatch June 3, 2005 10:50 a.m. (Paris time)
Accor clarifies …
In addition to Jean-Marc Espalioux’s comments to the Media on May 20, 2005, it’s important to bear in mind that Accor is not the owner of the Sofitel in Khao Lak, which was operated under a management contract. As a result, Accor has had no legal authority over the site since the catastrophe.
Nonetheless, Accor has intervened on a number of occasions, both to clear away debris, to the extent possible, and, in liaison with Thai and French government authorities, to facilitate the search for bodies conducted by the different specialist units that have operated on the site since the disaster.
It was at Accor’s request that the Thai police conducted new searches of the hotel grounds and the building foundations in the past few days and informed local French government representatives of their findings. The debris cleared away during these search operations was moved to the edge of the site, where Thai police teams are responsible for examining it.
Accor will continue to do everything in its power to help any and all specialized teams sent by the proper authorities to carry out new investigations.
Views of the Sofitel Khao Lak hotel on May 20th 2005
Views of the Sofitel Khao Lak hotel on April 4th 2005
Jean-Marc Espalioux explained to the media : “54 of our employees dies in this tragedy. There is no division here, with Accor on one side and the victims on the other.”
Jean-Marc Espalioux explained the Group’s position in response to statements of the Association of the Victims of the Sofitel Khao Lak during a press conference on May 19 in Paris.
He gave interviews to the media. Here, in substance, is the text of his statements :
“We have been in contact with the Association for the support of French victims since it appeared, along with all the other victims that have called upon us.
We share the objectives of the association and of the victims and we are striving to help them as much as we can.
54 of our employees died in this tragedy. We share the same concerns as those of the Associations and the families of victims.
Concerning the search for and identification of bodies, Jean-Marc Espalioux noted :
“These efforts should not be confused with clearing and cleaning up the site. The search and identification process was exclusively under the control of public and health authorities. There have been many of these authorities, including Thais, French, German, Swedish and international groups.
As for clearing the site, considerable resources (up to 400 people) were employed by Accor, as soon as it was possible, even though we are not the owners of the site, which is frequently the case in the hotel industry.
And if we have eliminated the most visible commercial signs from the site, it was, of course, because of the tragic circumstances ; as soon as there is widespread media attention, it was necessary to guard against the curiosity of the public."
Views of the Sofitel Khao Lak hotel on May 20th 2005
Pictures taken after the recent searches conducted by Thai authorities on the disaster site.
Views of the Sofitel Khao Lak hotel on April 4th 2005
Pictures taken two weeks after site clearance and cleanup began.