Accor Hotels has named Aldina Duarte Ramos as the director of its global wellness facilities – filling a position that has been vacant for some time.

Known for her role as president of the French Spa-A Association, which she will continue, Duarte Ramos will head up spa brand development for Accor – overseeing international openings and maintaining high quality performance across the hotels’ luxury brands.

Formerly the director of development for wellbeing activities across both of Accor’s luxury brands – Thalassa Sea & Spa and Sofitel – Duarte Ramos grew the Sofitel brand in her earlier role as the global resort & senior spa brand manager by creating So Spa and So FIT concepts which have been rolled out across 40 countries.

Other upscale brands under Duarte Ramos’ control now include the upscale three and four-star MGallery collection, four-star Novotels

and five-star business hotel brand Pullman.

Duarte Ramos started working for Accor as a spa brand manager in 2004 – a role in which she created the first Accor spa concept and rolled 15 facilities across 10 countries.