Read the latest roundup of hotel industry hires and promotions in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
Kempinski Makes C-Suite Switches
Kempinski Hotels has made two major changes in its C-suite. Xavier Destribats, for the past seven years chief operations officer for the Americas, has moved to Geneva, Switzerland, to become chief operations officer for Europe and the Americas. Timur Sentuerk is moving from Geneva, where he looked after Europe, the Middle East and Africa, to the company’s Dubai office to become chief operations officer for the Middle East and Africa.
De Vere Appoints Co-CEOs
Hotel firm De Vere has appointed two co-CEOs, Laurie Nicol and Alan Corlett. Nicol was chief operating officer at the company, and Corlett was chief commercial officer. Former CEO James Burrell is taking on a new role at the firm as executive chairman.
Diego Di Gaetano
Has been appointed as general manager at the 99-room Art’otel Rome Piazza Sallustio, a hotel from PPHE Hotel Group. The property will open later this year.
Valerie Donaldson
Has been hired as general manager of the 154-room Radisson Blu Sheffield, which is to open this summer. She previously worked at Radisson Hotel Group overseeing the opening of another Radisson Blu hotel in Leeds and the opening of the Radisson SAS in Birmingham.
Michael Levie and Frank Veenstra Join Scandic Board
Swedish hotel firm Scandic Hotel Group AB has named to its board of directors Michael Levie, co-founder of the CitizenM hotel brand and its chief operations officer between January 2005 and December 2021; and Frank Veenstra, owner of Mainstay Hospitality and former deputy head of global hospitality at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Murat Yilmaz
Has been hired as market managing director for Central and Eastern Europe at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. He arrives from a role as executive advisor for business development at FTI Group, which has a hotel-ownership division.
Vincent Billiard
Has been appointed regional vice president for Central and North Europe at Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. Most recently, he was managing director of the firm’s Hôtel de Crillon, a Rosewood Hotel. He now will oversee that hotel as well as Rosewood properties in London, Munich and Vienna, as well as upcoming hotels in Amsterdam and Salzburg, Austria, both of which open later this year.
Dorothée Guiol and Kelly Wheeler
Have been promoted to the roles of deputy CEO and chief financial officer, respectively, at OneFineStay, the private villa and home rental brand of Accor. Most recently, Guiol was director of group strategic projects at Accor, while Wheeler’s previous role was as finance director at OneFineStay.
Elise Roberts and Conor Sheehan
Have been promoted and appointed, respectively, to 20-room hotel The Gallivant Camber Sands, near Rye on the English Channel coastline of the county of Sussex. Sheehan joins as general manager, arriving from the same role at a nearby winery with restaurant and rooms, Tillingham Winery, while Roberts has become group general manager, with the firm in the third quarter of 2024 unveilings its second property, the 12-room Gallivant Littlestone Beach, a short hop east along the coast but in the country of Kent.
Estelle Vassallo
Has been hired as general manager of Minor Hotels’ 52-room Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel, which occupies a 13th-century monastery in the town of Amalfi on the famed Italian coast bearing that name. Previously, she had the same role at another Minor property, the Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam.
Steve Crosswell
Has been appointed senior relationship director for hotel finance at industry lender Bank Leumi U.K. He will report to Louis Gillon, head of hotel finance, and he arrives from another bank, Cynergy, where his title was relationship director.