Kempinski Names Duncan O'Rourke COO
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 16, 2008. On June 1st, Duncan O'Rourke is taking over as Chief Operating Officer for the Kempinski Hotel group. The supervisory board approved CEO Reto Wittwer's recommendation on April 15th.
O'Rourke's appointment places him on the management board, and also in the position of Director of Kempinski, SA. He will take over day-to-day running of Kempinski as well as the pre-opening of new projects. In this key role, all Kempinski vice-presidents and general managers report to him at his corporate offices in Geneva, where his job also includes oversight of several departments, such as sales, marketing and training.
Reto Wittwer believes O'Rourke will take the company to its "next level of excellence", having had multi-brand experience with a number of top companies such as Rosewood, Marco Polo and Movenpick. He has opened six new hotels in the past, and had the task of overseeing three Kempinski properties in Jordan, two in Lebanon and three projects in Syria.
O'Rourke replaces present COO, Michel Novatin, who takes on the CEO position of Shaza Hotels from 1st September this year. Shaza, specialising in travel to the Middle East and North Africa, is a joint venture between Kempinski and Guidance Financial Group, a worldwide private equity group launched two years ago. Kempinski is now offering considerable higher management power to hotels and resorts in Middle and Eastern countries, through joint ventures.
Novatin replaces Chris Hartley, who will now be CEO of Global Hotel Alliance, of which both Kempinski and Shaza are members He will continue to lend support to Shaza, as a non-executive Vice Chairman..
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