CHI Hotels and Resorts Opens New Regional Sales Office in Germany and Egypt
23 February 2010
As part of its continuing expansion, CHI Hotels & Resorts, exclusive operators of the Corinthia Hotels Brand worldwide and of the Wyndham and Ramada Plaza brands in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), announced the opening of two new Regional Sales Offices in Germany and a third one in Cairo, Egypt.
As regional director of sales for the German leisure sector based in Dusseldorf, Gero Birkenmaier joins CHI with a vast experience gained in leisure sales, most recently with Orient Express Hotels and prior to that with German Tour Operations and Disneyland Resort Paris. Gero has considerable German speaking market experience in dealing with tour operators, travel agents and wholesalers and will be responsible for developing the key leisure markets of Germany, Switzerland and Austria for all CHI properties.
The responsibility for developing the increasingly important meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) sector within Germany and Switzerland has been entrusted to Frankfurt based Amin Masshafi, as CHI’s regional director of sales for MICE. Amin has gained invaluable MICE sales experience through his association with Club Med Hotels and prior to that with Intercontinental, Concorde and Radisson SAS. He has a wide knowledge of all facets of the MICE sector, having had close collaboration with both corporate direct MICE clients and professional conference organisers (PCO’s), as also event organisers in the German and Swiss markets.
Commenting on the appointments in Germany CHI’s senior vice president sales & marketing Glenn Carroll said “The German and Swiss market is a highly important source to the sales efforts of all our hotels’ MICE and leisure segments. Gero and Amin’s roles will help in a major way to consolidate all activity in this market, giving us a solid market presence and providing our clients with a readily accessible contact base that will guarantee a fast and efficient response to their enquiries.”
Eyeing the vast potential of the Africa and Middle East markets, CHI Hotels & Resorts has also set up office in Cairo, Egypt, with the appointment of Ghada Goher as director of sales for the region. Ghada is not new to CHI or the region, having previously been engaged as revenue manager and later director of sales at the CHI operated Corinthia Hotel Tripoli, in Libya. Her vast experience in this sector will now provide a perfect base for her new and extended role within the Company.
”This new office too is a major step forward in helping to drive our sales efforts globally” said Glenn Carroll, ”As the geographical spread of CHI hotels expands both in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, we also continue to venture into new source markets. Property-wise, our presence in the region is well established, with top class hotels in Libya, Tunisia and the recently opened Tiran Island Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. We are also developing hotels in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and another one in Sharm El Sheikh. Moreover, we also recognise the potential of the outgoing markets in this region, with a substantial number of people who travel not only within Africa itself, but also to mainland Europe, where we operate several upscale hotels that will shortly include one of London’s top properties. Our Regional Sales Office in Cairo can therefore be instrumental in generating lucrative business from this region for all our European properties too” concluded CHI’s senior vice president.
About CHI Hotels & Resorts
Based in Malta, CHI Hotels & Resorts (CHI) is a leading hands-on hotel management company that provides the full range of technical assistance and management services to hotel owners worldwide. CHI is the exclusive operator and developer for the luxury Corinthia Hotels brand as well as the Wyndham and Ramada Plaza brands in Europe, Africa and The Middle East. CHI draws on a heritage of over 45 years in delivering high quality services to hotel guests and an optimum rate of return to owners and investors in diverse business environments. Our experience across our three brands extends to management of luxury and upscale properties in city and resort locations and products ranging from boutique to conference and Spa hotels. The latest addition to the CHI portfolio is the Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, London – due to open at the end of 2010.