Josef Kufer Named SVP Africa for M"ovenpick
FEBRUARY 6, 2007. The German national Josef Kufer is promoted to the position of Senior Vice President Africa as of 12 February 2007 and becomes a member of the Executive Committee of the Swiss international hotel group. In this position he replaces Bernard Granier, who will continue to act as a consultant to M"ovenpick Hotels & Resorts.
Josef Kufer, who will be based in Cairo, will be in charge of the hotels in Morocco, Mauritius, Tanzania and Tunisia as well as the future projects in Africa. Following the rapid growth of M"ovenpick Hotels & Resorts' Middle East region and a resulting strategic realignment of the company's operational areas, Egypt with its 13 properties (previously incorporated in the Middle East area) will henceforth be included in the Africa region, thus allowing a greater focus on the further development of this important and growing market. The Middle East and Asia team based in Dubai will continue to focus on the 18 new openings in the area as well as the further expansion into the Asian markets.
Kufer gained first-hand international experience as General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Hotels in Oman, Indonesia, India and Taiwan. He previously held a number of senior and regional leadership roles in Food & Beverage. Most recently he was General Manager of the company's flagship M"ovenpick Hotel & Resort Beirut in Lebanon.
"As General Manager of the M"ovenpick Hotel & Resort Beirut Josef Kufer proved that he is ideally suited for greater responsibility", said Jean Gabriel P'er`es, President & CEO M"ovenpick Hotels & Resorts referring to the promotion. "It is our aim to grow executives from within the company and to offer them opportunities for promotion. In Josef Kufer we are delighted to have found a top in-house candidate for this position."
M"ovenpick Hotels & Resorts (MH&R), a premium hotel management company with over 12,000 employees, is represented in 24 countries with 80 hotels existing or under construction and focuses on its core markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
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