The Rezidor Hotel Group announced the official appointment of Elie Younes as Senior Vice President, Head of Group Development, effective 1st January 2013. He steps into the position of Puneet Chhatwal, new CEO of Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts.
Younes joined Rezidor’s regional office in Dubai in April 2010 as Vice President, Business Development Middle East & Africa, and took over the interim leadership of Rezidor’s corporate development department in October 2012.In his new role Younes will be based at the corporate support office in Brussels, Belgium. He will also be a member of Rezidor’s Executive Committee chaired by President & CEO Wolfgang M. Neumann who will take over from Kurt Ritter as from 1st January 2013.“Building on his strong knowledge of Rezidor, our owners and business partners, Elie Younes will further drive our asset-light, profitable growth with a focus on the young and emerging markets of Russia/CIS and Africa”, said Wolfgang M. Neumann, Rezidor’s President & CEO. Neumann. "Rezidor is the leading international hotel operator in Russia/CIS & Baltics, and has the largest pipeline of hotels under development in sub-Saharan Africa. The group has a total development pipeline of around 100 hotels with over 22,000 rooms in EMEA".Younes, a Lebanese national and English Citizen, began his career in managerial roles in Lebanon before joining HVS International in London in 2001. During his 5 years with HVS International Younes quickly progressed to the position of Director, overseeing a number of projects, investment counselling, feasibility studies and contract negotiations as well as advising on over US$8 billion worth of hotel real estate. In 2007, Younes joined Starwood Hotels as Director of Acquisitions and Development EMEA, before being promoted to Senior Director of Acquisitions and Development in 2008. Younes joined Hilton Hotels Worldwide as Vice President Development for the Middle East in 2009 before moving to Rezidor.He has graduated from universities such as Notre Dame in Beirut, Insead in France, Cornell University in the USA, IMHI/Essec in Paris and City University in London.
