Topic HR

News & Stories

What do employer competitions achieve? Hoteliers on their experiences
Benchmarking is the benefit
15.5.2013

Munich. The number of employer competitions has been growing exponentially for a while now. Nevertheless, participation in such schemes can bring benefits for hotels when data are properly compiled, results correctly interpreted and corresponding measures taken. A plus point is primarily the comparison with other sectors. As a pure PR measure though, such competitions are expensive. Baerbel Schwertfeger has taken a closer look at two competitions: the "Top Employers 2013" and "Great Place to Work".

Salary jungle: bonuses for one third only
10.4.2013

Duesseldorf. Not even half of the employees in the German hotel industry receive holiday pay or a Christmas bonus. This is the result of a survey about salaries in the hotel industry among 3,500 employees working in all hierarchical levels. The survey provides interesting details about extra payments and basic salaries in various German states divided into gender, positions and much more.

Glion opens campus in London
13.12.2012

Glion/London. For the first time, the Swiss Glion Institute of Higher Education will open an additional campus beyond Switzerland, namely in London.

Rezidor CEO Kurt Ritter slowly says goodbye
The power parcel
1.11.2012

Brussels. His name means "knight". Yet in the good times, he liked to celebrate like a king and had Château Rothschild served at Rezidor parties at the ITB. Now, Kurt Ritter is preparing a regal retirement at a small castle in France. From there, he will no longer carry out the "Ritter virtues" into the entire Rezidor world, but will still be active in important Carlson committees. "23 years are enough," Ritter says as President & CEO - 36 years after he first came to the company. Together with Reto Wittwer from Kempinski, he's the longest serving CEO in the industry.

The supervisory board has already asked him twice to agree to an extension of his contract and the 65-year-old didn't want to be asked a third time. He announced his official departure four weeks ago, he will finally leave the ranks of senior management on January 1, 2013. In an interview with hospitalityInside.com, he reflects on his life for and with Rezidor. He's sure: "If we had taken the conventional route, we wouldn't be where we are today."

OEHV to launch employee initiative in Spain
18.10.2012

Vienna. 50 percent of youth unemployment in Spain while Austria is experiencing a shortage of skilled workers? The Austrian hotel association, Oesterreichische Hoteliervereinigung, thus openly started placing Spaniards looking for work in positions at Austrian first-class hotels.

No emails, no burnout
13.9.2012

Duesseldorf. Businesses have their own regulations concerning the availability of their employees: 33 percent of the companies plan or already have appropriate measures in place. This is the result of a survey among 279 human resources managers.

Dusit and EHL collaborate
6.9.2012

Bangkok/Lausanne. This week, Dusit Thani College launched an international hospitality programme in association with the Swiss hospitality school Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne.

Personality tests in the hotel industry: Reiss Profile under examination
"Giving in to one's impulses"
2.8.2012

Munich. In order to encourage the motivation of staff members, numerous businesses rely on the Reiss Profile. In the hotel industry, the personality test, which is supposed to measure 16 basic desires, is on the rise. But the test does not only request very private information; it is also controversial in other issues. "Becoming rich is one of the most important things in my life", "I love parties", "It is hard for me to bear discomfort and pain", "If I am insulted by somebody, it is an eye for an eye", "I love afters and desserts" – those who answer the 128 questions of the Reiss Profile are often astonished. Many questions, at least at first glance, have nothing to do with professional life but concern very private matters.

CEO turnover: Hire & fire
27.6.2012

London. The turnover of CEOs amongst the world’s 50 largest hotel companies doubled in 2011, compared with 2009, with 12% of companies now being led by a new chief executive. A study reveals a rise in the turnover of CEOs in the sector but also that company's are becoming increasingly conservative in their choice.

Universities cooperate on research
7.6.2012

Bad Honnef/The Hague. The International University Bad Honnef Bonn and the Hotel School The Hague will in future work more closely together in research, education and consultation. A memorandum of understanding has been signed.

VIP News

Four promotions and one death

HI+Four promotions and one death

Wiesbaden. Irmela Heinsius has been appointed COO Hospitality of the Denkmalneu Group. David Frei is General Manager of Grace La Margna in St. Moritz and Maksim Juričić General Manager of Villa Mai 3.3 in Croatia. The Tornabuoni Hotel in Florence has a new hotel manager in Domenico Muratore, and throughout Europe the cosmetics and wellness world mourns the loss of pioneer Gertraud Gruber.

Many lateral entrants and up-and-comers

HI+Many lateral entrants and up-and-comers

Augsburg. With Marlene Treppner and Lukas Meier, 25hours has two new heads of hotel in Frankfurt and Zurich. Ruby strengthens its building planning team. Daniela Fette moves from Jumeirah to Dorint. Limehome expands its European expansion team. Centro Hotels relies on a former drama student for the Nyce launch in Bad Godesberg. Detlef and Oliver have founded a hotel consultancy. Yaël Klein now manages Amex GBT. PKF also makes Ulrike Schüler and Ulf Templin partners.

Many returnees, new CEOs

HI+Many returnees, new CEOs

Augsburg. Rob Horman is the new CEO of Flemings. Eric Danziger is the ex CEO of Trump Hotels now. At Kerzner, a South African is the new Regional Director, Sales & Marketing in Europe. Villa d'Este Hotel Group has a new CEO. Adina hired an all-rounder as Director of Technical Services. Achim Hunzinger returns after around 15 years to Villa Stokkum. Maria Ghebresellasie is the new head of a Castello. Florence welcomes Sofia Peluso, Ibiza and 7Pines a new General Manager. And at the Courtyard by Marriott Düsseldorf Hotels, sales and marketing is in new hands.

A great one steps down, a few come back

HI+A great one steps down, a few come back

Augsburg. Bill Marriott retires after more than 60 years at the helm of the company. Pentahotel Leipzig announced three staff changes this week. Janina Bachmann-Graffunder is the new GM of nhow Berlin. Torsten E. Viehman is the new man at the new Ninety Nine Hotel in Hamburg-Bergedorf. At the Park Plaza Nuremberg, an F&B expert is at the helm. Achat Hotels has a new project designer.

Change in company leadership

HI+Change in company leadership

Augsburg. Hilton has appointed Pauline Wilson as its new VP Focused Service Operations in EMEA. Rosewood has made two strategic future appointments. Doris Greif has left the Langham London. Andrea Scherz is the new Chairman of the Executive Committee of Leading Hotels of the World. Pellicano Hotels in Italy welcomes two new GMs. Otto Lindner and Andreas Krökel surprisingly retire from the top management of the German Lindner Hotels. Olaf Steinhage parts ways with mrp hotels. Andreas Kohn is the new Chairman of the DACH Advisory Board of HSMAI Europe.

New Senior Executives and Juniors

HI+New Senior Executives and Juniors

Augsburg. Adina fills its CFO position for Europe with a familiar name: Andrea Agrusow. Adina also created the new position of Regional GM North. Ruby Hotels brings three new heads into the management to secure the international expansion. Primestar brings a second managing partner, Oliver Kupka, into the holding company. 12.18 Investment Management also appoints a new CFO. André Seiler leaves the family business Seiler Hotels, which now belongs to other owners. A-rosa Flussschiff establishes a separate sustainability department. Christie & Co brings new junior consultants on board.

Female managers on the rise

HI+Female managers on the rise

Wiesbaden. The former Managing Director of 25hours Hotels, Michael End, joins Denizen. Preferred Hotels has appointed Cheryl Williams as Chief Revenue Manager. Nick Bosworth strengthens the EMEA team of Choice and Sarah Derry became CEO Accor Pacific. At Seetelhotels, Marco Fien joins as hotel director, Stephan Sieberg became GM of Sheraton Essen, and other hotel groups report changes among department heads. H-Hotels mourns the death of company founder Helmut Fitz.

Changes from Berlin to Marbella

HI+Changes from Berlin to Marbella

Wiesbaden. Hotel groups, tourism organizations and suppliers are filling new management positions and, in some cases, introduce new structures in parallel. There are particularly many changes in the luxury hotel sector.

A lot of movement at the turn of the year

HI+A lot of movement at the turn of the year

Wiesbaden. Hotel groups, tourism organizations and suppliers are filling new management positions and, in some cases, introduce new structures in parallel. There are particularly many changes in the luxury hotel sector.

High-profile changes

HI+High-profile changes

Augsburg. Samih Sawiris will hand over Orascom Development Holding to his son Naguib S. Sawris in spring. Olivier Harnisch is now Senior Strategy Advisor for the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Tourism. Developer Henning Kreckel leaves IHG in Frankfurt, and Dorint Hotels in Cologne brings ex-Hilton developer Ulrich Widmer on board. Next year, there will also be a change of CEO at the Lausanne/EHL Hotel School.

New challenges in 2022

HI+New challenges in 2022

Augsburg. Rocco Forte has found a new Group Director of Operations in Antonello de Medici. The new Marriott AC Hotel in Tegernsee will kick off with Franz Zimmermann as General Manager.

New appointments to management positions

HI+New appointments to management positions

Wiesbaden. Edith Gerhardt now on the management board of Hirmer Hospitality. Jacob Stöhr heads the Nassauer Hof in Wiesbaden. Adina introduces new General Managers. BNP Paribas expands its team in Munich and Markus Luthe becomes President at Hotelstars.

With a breath of fresh air

HI+With a breath of fresh air

Augsburg. With Alession Minetto, the Oetker Collection has gained an experienced GM for the new Geneva luxury hotel The Woodward. Margit Hug, who spent many years at Choice Hotels, is now Director Franchise at Deutsche Hospitality. Jan Heringa brings new momentum to development and innovation at Leonardo Hotels, among others. And Steffen Seib, ex 25hours, takes care of the implementation of new projects at Achat Hotels.

The new management heads at Arabella and Dorint

HI+The new management heads at Arabella and Dorint

Cologne/Munich. As already reported via Breaking News on Tuesday this week, the current COO Jörg T. Böckeler will take over the role of CEO as of 1 January 2022 and at the same time bring in a new team. The still current CEO Karl-Heinz Pawlizki will move to the hotel subsidiary of the billionaire Munich-based Schörghuber Group.

Breaking News: Change of CEO at Dorint

HI+Breaking News: Change of CEO at Dorint

Karl-Heinz Pawlizki.Photo: hagenwillsch

Cologne/Munich. Karl-Heinz Pawliziki, CEO of the Dorint Hotel Group in Cologne, will leave the company at Christmas after seven years and take over Arabella Hospitality S.E. Munich in the role of CEO on 1 January 2022. He will be succeeded at Dorint by the previous Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer Jörg T. Böckeler as Spokesman of the Executive Board.

Together with Bettina Schütt - from then on COO - he thus forms the new management duo of DHI Dorint Hospitality & Innovation GmbH with more than 60 hotels & resorts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. This was announced by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dorint Hotel Group, Dirk Iserlohe, a few minutes ago.

Jörg T. Böckeler has been Managing Director for Operations, Marketing & Sales and Revenue since January 2018 and oversees the HOMMAGE Luxury Hotels Collection as CEO. Before joining the Dorint Group, he worked in leading positions at the Intercontinental Hotel Group, including as Regional Manager Australia in Sydney and General Manager in Düsseldorf and Berchtesgaden.

Bettina Schütt has been managing the Dorint Sanssouci Berlin/Potsdam for more than five years and is also Regional Director for the North area with eight other Dorint properties. Before taking on her management role with the Dorint Hotel Group, she worked for international hotel chains such as Swissôtel, Hilton and Scandic. She also gained experience with the Italian cruise line MSC.

To further support her, Frank Schönherr will take over the newly created position of Vice President Operations Germany as of 1 January 2022. Rob Bruijstens, previously Managing Director of Dorint Hotels & Resorts Schweiz GmbH, will simultaneously become Vice President Operations Austria and Switzerland. Both will actively support Bettina Schütt.

"I am grateful that I had an experienced finance manager and hotelier at my side in this difficult time of crisis," Dirk Iserlohe thanks his departing managing director. / kn

Worldwide career steps

HI+Worldwide career steps

Wiesbaden. Åsa Wirén became CFO at Scandic. Hans-Rudolf Rütti is now GM at Steigenberger in Davos, Alexander Lahmer at Rosewood Vienna. Lise Egenius heads the 25hours Copenhagen, Cédric Dupont is Deputy Director at Resort Mark Brandenburg. Althoff Hotels have reorganized their sales department, Achat has a Head of Marketing in Michael Lemke and the FTI Group has two new CEOs for its Resort and Destination Management divisions.

Changes at C-Level

HI+Changes at C-Level

Augsburg. Kempinski appoints its former Acting CFO as CFO. Predecessor Dr Peter Fiedler is leaving. Former Kempinski board member Benedikt Jaschke moves to Adlon Holding in Berlin as CEO, Thomas Haas will stay on as a consultant. Anneli Lindblom is the new CFO at Pandox. And in Italy, Giulia Devietti Goggia is taking over Relais & Châteaux Italy. Train enthusiast Jean-Marie Moreau moves from Belmond to the CEO chair of Arsenale Express. And Gabriele Maessen has taken over the operational management of the Austrian hotel group Arcotel Hotels as COO.

New CEO at Best Western

HI+New CEO at Best Western

Augsburg. Lawrence M. Cuculic is appointed as the new CEO and President of BWH Hotel Group, effective 1 December 2021. Premier Inn Germany expands its sales team.

New challenges accepted

HI+New challenges accepted

Wiesbaden. Rosewood announces new appointments and promotions to the leadership team of the Rosewood and New World brands. Steigenberger turns the personnel GM-carousel. Yasmin Cachemaille Grimm is COO at Unisono Hospitality, Claudia Mair at Tinkhof changed to Kohl & Partner and Frank Ladinser is the new President of Schlosshotels & Herrenhäuser.

New management positions

HI+New management positions

Augsburg. Neil Palmer, a long-time Starwood man, is now the new COO at Six Senses. Christie & Co. has found a new Managing Director for Spain and Portugal. The luxurious beach hotel Fischland on the Baltic Sea welcomes a new Director, and The Fontenay Hamburg hires an experienced Director of Sales & Marketing.

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