"Sofitel is a luxury hotel chain managed by Accor, which opened its first property in Strasbourg, [France] in 1964. 1974 saw their first overseas opening in Minneapolis, USA. In 1995 Sofitel had 100 hotels in 40 countries and employed 12,500 people. Two years later Sofitel joined the Accor Group, founded in 1983 and in 2000 opened its properties in Philadelphia and New York. In 2005 Sofitel continued its remarkable expansion with Sofitel Asia Pacific. In 2007 Sofitel created a strategy to compete on the international luxury hotel market with its French Touch and the slogan “Life is magnifique”. In the following year Sofitel became its own unit in the Accor group with 161 Hotels worldwide. In 2009 the new brands Sofitel Legends and SO by Sofitel were introduced."