Kempinski appoints Duncan O'Rourke as COO

Kempinski Hotels and Resorts has appointed Duncan O'Rourke as chief operating officer taking over from Michel Novatin who moves to be chief executive officer of sister company Shaza Hotels.

O´Rourke, who starts in the role on 1 June, most recently worked as a regional director for Kempinski where oversaw three properties in Jordan while he was general manager of the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea. He also oversaw two projects in Lebanon, along with three projects in Syria.

Novatin will join Shaza on 1 September. The Shaza hotel group was launched last year as a result of a partnership between Kempinski and private equity house Guidance Financial Group. It aims to acquire 30 luxury, five-star hotels over the next six to eight years.

The first Shaza hotel is due to open in Dubai in early 2009. Other projects under development in Doha, Muscat, Cairo, Jeddah, Bahrain and Marrakech will be introduced by 2010.

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By Gemma Sharkey

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