News & Stories

Wiesbaden. Thomas Pick now leads the Aldiana Club Costa del Sol in Andalusia, the B'mine Hotels have a double leadership with Torsten Hagen and Matthias Beinlich and Grit Pauling moved from Giesing to Cologne to lead the 25hours The Circle there.

Wiesbaden. At the Buergenstock Selection, Bruno Schoepfer hands the operational reins over to Saeid Heidari, Ezio A. Indiani is new president of EHMA, and Giacomo Battafarano has been appointed new General Manager of Verdura Resort by Rocco Forte, Sicily. Martin Schroedl is the GM of the new Maxx by Steigenberger in Vienna, and the HR Group announces four new additions: Ralf Gronbach, Andre Rignanese, Steffen Schumann and Peter Marek. Henning Kreckel leaves Rilano and joins IHG, Max Droll will join Quality Reservations as Co-Managing Director and the Hotel Services team of BNP Paribas Real Estate welcomes Francesco Mazza as Director National Hotel Services.

Augsburg. Christoph Michl, CEO of the Hotel Division of the Schörghuber Group of Companies in Munich, is leaving the Group after 21 years. After 24 years, Christoph Härle has left JLL. Tina Froboese from Düsseldorf is now working as an independent consultant for hotel real estate. LVMH strengthens its hotel expertise, Airbnb has hired a transport manager, Art-Invest expands its management team. Mandarin Oriental Lake Como has a new director, as has Bettoja Hotel Massimo D'Azeglio in Rome. Mandarin Oriental Munich has a new Head of Marketing, A&O Hostels a new Head of Offline Marketing. Kurt Weber is the new GM at Arborea Marina Resort Neustadt in Lübeck Bay.

Wiesbaden. Choice Hotels appoints Douglas Lisi to VP Revenue Management and Pierre & Vacances brings Jean-Marc Humbert on board as Director of Innovation and Digitisation. Husseyn Atakishiyev is the new General Manager of Six Senses Kaplankaya in Turkey. The German Dorint Hotels strengthen their leadership team in the Rhineland region. Hotel expert Karsten Jess started his own business at the turn of the year.

Augsburg. After nearly ten years at the helm of Leading Hotels of the World, Ted Tend is leaving the company prematurely in April. Scandic has appointed Søren Faerber as the new head of Denmark. Mario Gubi is promoted to GM at the InterContinental Davos. Winfried Storm retires and leaves the Marriott Munich City Center to Jörg Kröter. Dorint starts 2019 in Switzerland with a new structure.

Augsburg. Completely surprisingly, the Scandic Board replaced CEO Even Frydenberg last week. In Switzerland, Andreas Gartmann has left the Tschuggen Hotel Goup. Melià strengthens its Area Business Development at the German headquarters and welcomes two new hotel managers. After 17 years, Florian Schuetz returns from New York and takes over the Sofitel Frankfurt.

Wiesbaden. Theodor Kubak becomes Managing Director of the new hospitality division of Arbireo Capital. Lee Kok Sun and Robert-Jan Foortse establish Acher Hotel Capital as a joint specialist for European hotel investments. Jason Simpson became VP Engineering at Choice Hotels Int. and Cristina Ramos the new operational manager of AccorHotels in Italy and Greece. Simone Sander is GM of the Dorint Hotel Herrenkrug Parkhotel in Magdeburg. Cornelia Kausch leaves Pandox after almost 13 years and becomes COO at a housing specialist. Rob Hornman is now on the road for HRS. Klaus Rohrbeck moved from AccorHotels to A&O as Head of Construction. Michaela Reitterer was confirmed as ÖHV President and in Italy Giorgio Palmucci was appointed the new President of the Italian tourism office ENIT.

Wiesbaden. Prizeotel CEO hires a second Managing Director for the German market. At Dormero, Marcus Maximilian Wöhrl took over 100% of the company shares. Sigrid Köntopp became Senior Director Operations at Intercity Hotel, her predecessor Robert Boller Managing Director of Maxx Hotel GmbH. Ahmet Antepli leads the Kempinski Hotel The Dome in Antalya as General Manager and Benedikt Roos is in charge of the two 25hours hotels in Frankfurt. His predecessor Andreas Schnuerer moves to Hamburg as Key Account Manager for 25hours. Michael Artner is now Assistant General Manager at the Steigenberger Drei Moren in Augsburg and Nikolas Benedikt Grasmugg Deputy General Manager at the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm.

Augsburg. In Italy, the founder of the Statuto Group was arrested. Deutsche Hospitality will welcome a new head of HR for the Group next April, while Anja Bachmann has decided to leave Meininger Hotels.

Augsburg. Klaus Assmann starts for the second time at Sofitel Dubai Downtown, Marc K. Thiel says goodbye to Soravia Germany, and the Austrian tourism consultant Manfred Kohl hands over his lifework to a management team. Dr Michael Frenzel was also confirmed in office as President of the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry.

Augsburg. After, as announced in May, Design Hotels founder Claus Sendlinger resigned at the end of November, a new Board has now formed – with a Marriott manager as chairman. Staycity appoints Wayne Arthur as CFO as Colm Whooley steps down. Heribert Gangl leaves Hamilton Hotel Partners in London. Rocco Forte Hotels has announced a GM for their second hotel in Rome. The Medical Wellness Resort Graeflicher Park in Germany has also appointed a new head for new projects. And David Kellett joins Invesco Real Estate's hotel fund management team.

Wiesbaden. Dagmar Symes is the new General Manager of Anantara in Oman and Coro Ortiz de Artinano is the Commercial Director of The Dedica Anthology. At Sofitel Frankfurt Opera, Florian Schuetz became General Manager and Stefanie Schuster became Director of Sales & Marketing. At Maritim, Heike Schober takes over the management of the hotel in Munich and Frank Wilberg of the hotel in Ulm. Andreas Wieckenberg becomes General Manager of the Schlosshotel Kronberg; Hannes Horsch will manage the Romantik Hotel on the Wartburg in future. And, last but not least, A&O has appointed Chris Probst as its new Sales Manager for the DACH region.

Wiesbaden. AccorHotels appoints Pierre-Charles Grob as CEO of Availpro and Fastbooking. Christian Hempel is the new Senior Vice President of Global Loyalty and Partnerships at IHG. Rüdiger von Stengel retires from Art-Invest as operational Managing Director. Aylin Nöske becomes GM at the IntercityHotel Dubai Jaddaf Waterfront and Frank Schönherr takes over the management of the Dorint Hotel Cologne am Heumarkt. Anton Birnbaum becomes GM in the Le Méridien Hamburg and Ralf Meister is the new manager of the a-ja resort Ruhpolding.

Augsburg. Marriott International appoints Liam Brown as new head of Europe and successor of Amy McPherson. Radisson has appointed a new VP IT Service Management. Alexander Dürr takes the next career step at NH Hotels' corporate level. Jean-Jacques Gauer and Michael Mücke strengthen the supervisory boards of renowned hotel groups. Fabian Engels will further develop Althoff's new Urban Loft brand; Achiam Laurs will succeed him as Regional Director at Lindner Hotels. An experienced Kempinski manager takes over the boutique hotel Mauritzhof in Münster. And the young Bold Group from Munich hires a young manager from Munich for their property in the Giesing district.

Augsburg. From April 2019, Marriott's European boss Amy McPherson will be pursuing her own plans in the USA; London rumours have already brought up the name of a possible successor. A former Starwood man now manages the luxury hotel Zur Tenne in Kitzbühel, Austria. There are new manangers in the Lindner Hotels in Hamburg and on the German island of Sylt, and the Schlosshotel Kronberg near Frankfurt has appointed a new "second" man. DER Touristik has reoccupied the top of its worldwide destination management.

Wiesbaden. AccorHotels has appointed Sami Nasser and Marc Descrozaille as COOs for the Middle East. Ulrich Heim is General Manager of Swissôtel Bremen and Markus Wölflik of Steigenberger Hotel Zingst. Tatiana Kaczmarska takes over the management of the Premier Inn Hotel in Munich-Schwabing, P. David Kurzböck and Sonja Holzhauer will represent Konen & Lorenzen recruitment in the newly opened office in Vienna. Stefan Menden left Secret Escapes.

Augsburg. Peter Verhoeven has discreetly left Booking.com. Ian Biglands finds new luck at a company specialized on nursing home properties, Chris-Norman Sauer climbs the latter at Premier Inn. Christian von Rechenberg is now second in charge at Baur au Lac Zurich. In Vienna, Gerhard Mitrovits hands over the Palais Hansen to Florian Wille. Robinson Club completes its leadership team again, and Christian Boell now develops the comprehensive cruise strategy for DER Touristik.

Wiesbaden. Michael Zager has left IHG, Dirk Führer Falkensteiner, Stephan Demmerle NH Hotels and Tina Froboese Hotel Affairs Consulting. Andreas Drobniewski became Cluster Manager at Victor's Residenz Hotels, Ralf Adamczyk is now Director of the Welcome Hotel in Bad Arolsen and Andreas Kriener manages the Welcome Hotel Frankfurt. The Achat Premium Walldorf/Reilingen is now managed by Franziska Kubiciel. At Hotrec, the Dane Jens Zimmer Christensen was elected as successor of President Susanne Kraus-Winkler.

Wiesbaden. At Rotana Hotels in Dubai, Guy Hutchinson succeeds Omer Kaddouri, who is moving to Europe, as President and CEO. At Hyatt, Joan Bottarini will succeed Patrick Grismer as Chief Financial Officer. Kerstin Gilbert is now Regional Sales Director at Premier Inn Germany, Ian Biglands will leave the group. And Björn Achstaller has taken over as General Manager of the Dorint Airport Hotel Zurich.

Wiesbaden. Financial expert Michael Kowalzik has joined Brera as Managing Director and shareholder. Tim Weiland becomes GM of The Alpina Gstaad and Susan Fahrnholz Director of Maritim Hafenhotel Rheinsberg. Dorint announced new managers in Bitburg, Bremen and Cologne Junkersdorf with Kerstin Kohnen, Daniela Mäckle and Jörg Senior.