Topic HR

News & Stories

Hospitality Manager on the move (1): Sonu Shivdasani, Six Senses
The long haul perfectionist
23.9.2005

 

Bangkok. He doesn't drive the car, he works in it. But mostly he doesn't need one anyway: Sonu Shivdasani spends one tenth of his time in the air. Bangkok-Maldives-Oman-Athens-London-Hua Hin-Bangkok…. The CEO of the Asian Six Senses Resorts & Spas has the misfortune of having to be mobile. His luxury resorts are scattered throughout the most beautiful islands in the most undiscovered corners of Asia and Europe. The frequent flight guest thus likes to travel with maximum efficiency.

Reto Wittwer CEO of Kempinski Hotels for 10 years
The luxury man
16.9.2005

Munich. He officially called from Singapore for another reason. He only marginally mentioned what was really important to him: On July 26, Reto Wittwer had been CEO and President of Kempinski Hotels for ten years. Only Kurt Ritter of Rezidor SAS Hospitality has been in office for a longer term. The interview about Reto's anniversary reveals some hitherto unknown details about Wittwer himself.

Fictionary hoteliers' salaries
9.9.2005

Zurich.  A Swiss financial newspaper published the salaries of the150 top earners in Switzerland. Four wellknown hotel managers are to be found among them. But they deny to have been asked about it.

Chances and conditions for young and old GM on different markets
Systematic rotation
9.9.2005

Munich. In Dubai, there are more General Managers on the market than posts available. In Eastern Europe, however, the demand is high. Germany remains an attractive location, although there are comparably few open positions. Maria Puetz-Willems talked with Antje Maesse, the Managing Director of Haystax in Munich and her Global Network partners in Istanbul and London about the chances and conditions for young and old General Managers on the domestic and foreign market. Haystax is specialized in placing executives.

Performance linked bonuses lead to better results
Overview: Bonus schemes for executives
9.9.2005

London. `People are our most valuable asset' is the preferred mantra of many a company these days with more and more firms emphasising that it is their employees which give them the edge in an increasingly competitive marketplace. One has the impression with some of these companies that these grandiose statements are in fact empty words. An overview about effective talent management, bonus plans and reward schemes for all departments and different hotel types.

FOCUS staff: More and more companies rely on personality tests
Reading the coffee grounds:Only 10 out of 100 tests on scientific grounds
2.9.2005

Munich. More and more companies count on personality tests as regards staff selection or team development. However, most of them are neither worth their money nor scientifically backed up. A look at the industry.

FOCUS staff: About the sense and nonsense of personality tests
The less ado, the more information
2.9.2005

Stuttgart. Good interviews resemble good tests. In order to separate the good tests for selecting employees from the mountains of unserious offers, one would need some kind of "Consumers' Association". Baerbel Schwertfeger interviewed the renowned diagnostics expert and psychology professor at Hohenheim University near Stuttgart, Heinz Schuler.

FOCUS staff: Even professors allow themselves to be used for dubious matters
Tests today, dog food tomorrow
2.9.2005

Munich. Due to lacking know-how of human resources managers and providers of personality tests becoming cleverer, applicants frequently have to cope with dubious tests.

Hotel Managers want fair terms on bonuses
Unattainable - guaranteed!
19.8.2005

Augsburg. In times like these the hotel groups set targets so high, that no manager can realistically achieve bonus targets short of working a small miracle. A highly sensitive issue, as our survey soon determined. By far not every General Manager was willing to state his view. The background to the survey is formed by a recent study confirming that the trend towards performance related pay is on the increase.

Manager Salaries: Performance related payment models increase
Freezing of fixed salaries
19.8.2005

Augsburg. The trend towards performance related manager salaries in the hotel industry is becoming increasingly widespread. This was confirmed by an extensive survey carried out by a German Staff Consultancy firm. 93 percent of the 186 representatives of top management who were questioned thought that variable payment models, that is, fixed salary plus performance related bonuses, would take further hold over the next few years. Only two years ago the percentage of respondents holding the same opinion was four points lower. This trend is confirmed by other personnel consultants and headhunters, too.

VIP News

One construction director and three GMs

HI+One construction director and three GMs

Augsburg. In view of 35 projects in the pipeline, Premier Inn Germany has appointed a construction director. In the two 25hours Hotels in Zurich, Andri Bodmer will take over from Anita Vogler. In Hilton's Curio Collection Hotel, the Aleph Rome, an Italian luxury hotel takes over. And Steigenberger Munich hires a city connoisseur from the Arabella/Starwood Group.

Two GMs and one entrepreneur

HI+Two GMs and one entrepreneur

Wiesbaden. The luxury resort L'Andana in Tuscany has a new General Manager with Vito Spalluto and Christian Gindele became General Manager of the new NH Collection Munich Bavaria in February. Marc K. Thiel is now Managing Director and Partner of Seneca Advisors.

Trust in well-known minds

HI+Trust in well-known minds

Augsburg. Ascott significantly expands its team in Europe with three corporate positions. Emaar Hospitality brings more and more internationally experienced managers to its flagships in Dubai. Rocco Forte appoints a new GM for the Verdura Resort in Sicily. TripAdvisor appoints a new president for the hotel business, prizeotel hires a head of controlling and procurement and Dorint brings a Radisson manager back on board.

New Positions

HI+New Positions

Berlin. Olivier Chavy has been appointed President of Wyndham Destinations, Jörn Stobbe is now Chairman of the Board of Union Investment and Willemijn Geels is Vice President of Development, Europe at IHG. Magdalena Jedrasik is now Sales Director of DSR Hotel Holding GmbH, Robert Minge Director of Operations of b'mine hotels. Christian Schmidt is the new General Manager at Holiday Inn Lübeck, Jan-Patrick Krüger the Regional Director of all Pandox AB hotels in Germany. Nina Eggers takes over the position of Complex Hotel Manager of The Westin Grand Munich and Sheraton München Arabellapark Hotel. With Jurek Schwarz, nhow Berlin has a new General Manager.

Single and double leads

HI+Single and double leads

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.

Worldwide careers

HI+Worldwide careers

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.

Senior Executives are repositioning themselves

HI+Senior Executives are repositioning themselves

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.

New appointments and new jobs

HI+New appointments and new jobs

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.

Premature and planned changes

HI+Premature and planned changes

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.

The expected and the unexpected

HI+The expected and the unexpected

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.

Company and role changes

HI+Company and role changes

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.

Promotion to the turn of the year

HI+Promotion to the turn of the year

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.

Coming and going

HI+Coming and going

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.

Handover

HI+Handover

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.

Big and small changes

HI+Big and small changes

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.

The career wheel is spinning

HI+The career wheel is spinning

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.

Promotion in and around the hotel industry

HI+Promotion in and around the hotel industry

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.

Big steps

HI+Big steps

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.

Boss change

HI+Boss change

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.

Personal news from Germany and the world

HI+Personal news from Germany and the world

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.

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