Hotel group Accor lifts outlook, says French bookings remain resilient 

Oct 22 (Reuters) - French hotel group Accor on Thursday raised the lower end of its full-year profit outlook after stronger-than-expected third-quarter growth on the back of its luxury and lifestyle brands and a favorable events calendar.

Chief Financial Officer Martine Gerow said the company's business in France was boosted in September by events including pop icon Celine Dion's tour, Pope Leo's visit and several trade shows.

Recent unrest in France had led to some last-minute cancellations but had no meaningful impact on overall bookings, Gerow said.

Middle East demand rebounded in the third quarter from the impact of the Iran conflict, with weakness in the United Arab Emirates partly offset by growth in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, the finance chief said.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key industry metric, rose 4.9% year on year in the third quarter as hotel activity recovered in the UAE after the Middle East conflict disrupted the second-quarter performance. 

RevPAR in the UAE, the only market still affected by the regional conflict, improved from the previous quarter but remained about 20% below year-earlier levels, Accor said.

In Europe, RevPAR rose 2.5%, driven primarily by higher prices.

Accor reported third-quarter revenue of €1.503 billion ($1.68 billion), up 9.8% year on year on a reported basis and 7.7% at constant currency.

Accor raised the lower end of its full-year recurring EBITDA guidance of €1.27 billion to €1.285 billion, while trimming its network growth target to 3.0%-3.5% from around 3.5%.

The company opened 63 hotels and 9,000 rooms in the quarter, lifting net unit growth to 3.0%, while its pipeline expanded 9.5% to more than 273,000 rooms.

(Reporting by Ronan Corcoran; Editing by Maju Samuel)