‘French quality, Cambodian kindness’ at Accor hotels group co-founder’s hospitality school

Paul Dubrule, co-founder of the Accor hotels group, opened his hospitality school in 2002. It has since trained more than 4,400 Cambodians

Reading Time:3 minutes

Hospitality students at the entrance to the École d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme Paul Dubrule, opened in Siem Reap, Cambodia, 23 years ago by the Accor hotels group co-founder. Photo: Erika Na

Published: 7:15am, 21 Jan 2025Updated: 9:19am, 21 Jan 2025

At 90, Paul Dubrule, the co-founder of French multinational brand Accor, was looking sprightly at his school of hospitality in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Swaying merrily to the uplifting tune of the 1969 song Les Champs-Élysées, the nonagenarian appeared to be conducting the 10 Cambodian students with his hands at a ceremony in November 2024 that celebrated the opening of a new amphitheatre.

Also present at the performance was Maud Bailly, chief executive of Sofitel, a luxury hotel brand under the Accor umbrella.

École d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme Paul Dubrule, or the Paul Dubrule School of Hospitality and Tourism, was set up 23 years ago to provide hospitality education to underprivileged youth in a region still recovering from the destruction of the Khmer Rouge era.

We are a people industry, and our main purpose is to train, educate, and elevate.

Maud Bailey, CEO of Sofitel, an Accor brand that hires Paul Dubrule hospitality school graduates

Dubrule decided to open a school in Siem Reap when he was the mayor of Fontainebleau, a commune south of Paris, to celebrate the newly formed sister-city relationship between Fontainebleau and Siem Reap.