News & Stories

Augsburg. Hong Kong follows Dubai: Stefan Leser is CEO of Langham Hospitality. Dusit Hotels appoints Marc Hediger for the international expansion. Wolfgang Gallas starts at UBM Hotels, Kayan Kilit leaves Adina, and the Soravia Group has brought in a Chief Information Officer.

Augsburg. At GCH, CEO Yaron Ashkenazi hands over to COO Sascha Hampe. A GM change takes place at The Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg, and Lindner also welcomes a new Resident Manager at the Lindner Hotel & Residence Main Plaza Frankfurt.

Augsburg. Steigenberger appoints a Managing Director for its young brand Maxx, Frank Hoerl follows Gabriele Maessen at Azur Hotel Property in Berlin, the Westin and Sheraton Munich have a new Complex Manager for their 1,073 rooms. A Turkish business man comes on board as strategic partner to the operator RIMC Hotels.

Augsburg. Claus Sendlinger, founder of Design Hotels, will leave both the managing board and company; Marriott appointed a Ritz-Carlton manager as successor. Four Seasons has assigned regional responsibility to the GM of its Dubai resort. Gerhard Bosse is the new GM at the Kempinski Hotel Das Tirol near Salzburg. Dominik Ritz will become the new GM of Delta Hotel by Marriott Frankfurt Offenbach, formerly New Century.

Augsburg. The new European flagship of Moevenpick in Basel will be managed by Reto Kocher. Roland Paar becomes COO at Soravia, and at Deutsche Hospitality, Gernot Porcher is the successor of Sigurd Kern as Senior Director Construction, Interior Design and Engineering. Paul Garai, Founder and Managing Director at Star Inn Hotels, died unexpectedly.

Wiesbaden. Laurent Picheral took over management of AccorHotels Central Europe in addition to his function as Deputy CEO AccorHotels Europe. Inge van Ooteghem will become COO of Premier Inn Deutschland, and Ringhotels have a new President and Vice-President with Bernd Kanzow and Volker Duerr, respectively.

Augsburg. Jennifer Fox left Fairmont Hotels, Mandarin Oriental appoints a new person in charge for Northern Europe and Russia, Sebastian Kessel now runs the Courtyard Marriott Basel, his colleague Klaas Fongers takes over the Courtyard and Residence Inn Muenchen. Andreas Johannes Kartschoke is new General Manager of the Hotel Elephant in Weimar, and Nicole Adam is to enforce standards at Castlewood Hotels. Germany also has a new commissioner for tourism.

Wiesbaden. Emaar Hospitality appointed Mehdi Morad and Riad Abi Haidar as General Managers for the hotels Adress Boulevard and Adress Dubai Marina in Dubai. At Lindner Hotels, the experienced Robinson manager Tom Pick takes on the management of the resort in Portals Nous, Mallorca. Hard Rock International appointed a new Head of Global Hotel Development. A-ja hired the director for its first city resort in Zurich, and hotelier Mario Pick switched to a head hunter.

Wiesbaden. Gebhard Rainer is now CEO at Sandals, Ralph Tiergart is now appointed Vice President and GM of the extended stay brands ofr Choice, and Roland Elter steps up to management of Maritim Hotels. Constantin and Julia von Deines will leave Nassauer Hof Wiesbaden in May. Novum expands their HR department with Olaf Back and Kirsten Stein. Johannes Mayr now officially supports the leadership team at Sofitel Munich Bayerpost. Leonardo Hotels fill their management positions in southern Germany with Stephan Loewel, Yannick Goossens, Tim Ziegler, and Jacolien Benes.

Wiesbaden. Currently, many experienced managers are changing jobs: At Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group, Agron Berisa has become the new COO and succeeds Jan Hein Simons in this position; at Deutsche Hospitality, three executives have assumed new responsibilities. Dagmar Zechmann left the Westin Hamburg unexpectedly, Anthony Ross is now the new CEO at JA Resorts, and Birgit Conix has been appointed TUI's Chief Financial Officer. Preferred is expanding their female managerial levels. Brent Bouldin joined Choice as VP Marketing, and Roman Barthelmann is the new Regional Director Sales & Marketing at Rocco Forte Germany. The new GM at Burj Rafal Hotel Kempinski Riyadh is Christian Ruge, the GM at me and all Mainz is Holger Hanselmann, at Dorint Meissen it's Mark Anton. And Rafal Rosiejak has been named General Manager at Colliers Int. in Poland.

Augsburg. Airbnb is able to win over a top manager of Amazon Prime; Fabrice Collet is the new CEO at B&B Hotels. Karl Schattmaier has a new position – at Welcome Hotels. Hilton has a new Chief Information and Digital Officer. Matthias Niemeyer takes over Development Europa at Adina, and Dorint has hired an eCommerce specialist.

Augsburg. Former Starwood manager Michael P. Wale succeeded Gabriel Pérès becoming CEO of One&Only. Wolfgang Greiner left Mandarin Oriental Munich and the hotel group. Welcome Hotels CEO Christian Kettlitz also left the company. Roland Paar exited from Amedia Hotels as a Partner and Managing Director. Italian Valtur Group clarifies rumours about leadership. Ardi Goldmann, former 25hours partner, has to serve his sentence in prison due to a bribery scandal.

Augsburg. Four Seasons CEO J. Allen Smith will not renew his contract. Choice Hotels pushes its technology by appointing a new Chief Technology Officer, Wyndham has a new president for EMEA, Albeck & Zehden hires a new GM for the Crowne Plaza Berlin City Centre, Travel Charme gets a new lead for the Ifen Hotel in Kleinwalsertal, and arcona follows suit for the new Living-Hotel in Wetzlar. HRS strengthens its power for small and medium-sized business customers.

Wiesbaden. Steigenberger Dubai appointed Taras Ettl as new Managing Director for the region and, in Miami, Luis Riu is in trouble with the prosecution. Uwe Prein stepped up into management of alltours España, former head of Swiss Tourism, Juerg Schmid is now involved at The Living Circle, and Miriam Malzkeit is spearheading Forens Resort & Suites in Switzerland.

Wiesbaden. Karin Sheppard is appointed Managing Director, Europe for IHG, Leonardo restructures its top management and promotes Daniel Roger and Yoram Biton. Pascale Lagadère is new Vice President Human Resources at pentahotels, Michael Fruin joined Choice Hotels as Regional Vice President for the Northeast, and Martin Henning now runs the Design Hotel Zum Loewen in Duderstadt, Germany.

Augsburg. Moevenpick has a new president for the Middle East and Africa. Jan Hein Simons, COO of Falkensteiner Hotels in Vienna, left the company. Juergen Buellesbach is not going to renew his contract as CEO at Bayerische Hausbau in Munich. TUI Group created the new function of Chief Digital Officer.

Augsburg. Yesterday, Thomas Willms has been appointed CEO of Steigenberger Hotels AG. Rezidor hires a new expert on financial transformations; A&O Hotels also gets a Chief Investment Officer. NH has a new managing director for Southern Europe. Kempinski Hotels makes two German GMs running its flagships in Bangkok and Abu Dhabi. Novum gets support for its Leisure Sales department at the base in Hamburg, operator Odyssey strengthens his team of the AC by Marriott Hotel in Mainz, Georg Plesser at the Rocco Forte Hotel Villa Kennedy Frankfurt receives assistance, Adina hires a well-known GM for its new property in Copenhagen, and Christie & Co expands its teams in Frankfurt and Munich.

Wiesbaden. Moevenpick farewelled Andreas Mattmueller into his retirement and Jumeirah appoints Jose Silva as new CEO. With Thomas Hertkorn, A&O has a new Head of Online Marketing. Sascha Knese was appointed Regional Director of Revenue Management Europe at Pestana, and Axel Missner General Manager of the Pestana Berlin Tiergarten. Irmela Heinsius becomes Pre-Opening & General Manager of the Hotel Alsik in Sønderborg, for the second time Tanja Wegmann becomes General Manager of the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois in Basel and Michele Rinaldini holds the same position at Swiss Hotel Belvedere Locarno. Jan Hartwig leads the new Scandic Frankfurt Museumsufer, Andreas Drobniewski is now Director of Victor's Residenz-Hotel Berlin-Tegel and at Derag, Magnus Schwartze and Daniel Gust relocate but remain in their roles. Kay Plesse took over management of the Atlantic Grand Hotel Travemuende in December, Stefan Winistoerfer is now Director of the Sofitel Berlin Kurfuerstendamm and Holger Flory has taken on the position of Director Commercial at the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof.

Augsburg. The new board has taken over at Best Western's European parent company DEHAG; at the traditional hotel Raphael Altona in Hamburg, the director retired after 36 years. The long-time Managing Director Hartmut Pirl left Saminaris Hotels after 20 years. Martina Eggler moved from CWT to HRS. Gutheinz Family from the Austrian spa resort Jungbrunn promoted the HR manager to director. Novum is hiring more employees for its new nui brand. The Austrian Hotelier Association newly appointed its regional representatives. Munich Hotel Partners welcomes a new Chief Commercial Officer.

Wiesbaden. Armin Roedel is Head of Finance at Motel One, Carlson Rezidor expands the Business Development Division in Italy and Great Britain with Mauro Vinci and Adela Cristea. Nikolas von Olberg is appointed new Director Franchise-Service for Central and Eastern Europe at Choice Hotels in Munich. Pascal Rueegg and Ute Dirks take on new leading positions at Moevenpick in Switzerland. Eliza Artiaga becomes General Manager of Vida Downtown in Dubai. David Falter is now President of the Hotel-Division Roomlt by Carlson Wagonlit Travel, and Gerardo Solaro del Borgo is new CEO of Toscana Resort Castelfalfi.