France's Accor Group is looking to establish its economy hotel chain, Ibis Hotel (Ibis), in Malaysia as the country rises as a key tourist destination in the region.

The group is likely to focus in areas with growing business such as Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

Other than Malaysia, Ibis does not have any presence in other Southeast Asian countries such as Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.

Under Ibis's worldwide expansion plan, it is expected to have 1,100 hotels by 2010 in more than 70 countries and 40% of the new establishments will be in the Asia Pacific region — the main growth market for Ibis. 

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