As part of the restructuring of Kempinski Hotels' Middle East and Africa region, three hoteliers were recently appointed area general managers to oversee a number of the group's hotels, while maintaining responsibility for their own hotels as general managers.
Sebastien Mariette, the new general manager of the Middle East region, began his career with Kempinski in 2007 and has held several management positions in different regions of the world, including general manager of Kempinski Ishtar Dead Sea Hotel and Kempinski Aqaba Hotel in Jordan, general manager of Capitol Kempinski Hotel in Singapore and general manager of the Egypt region. Bulgaria, Djibouti, China and the United Arab Emirates have also been stops in his Kempinski career over the past 14 years. Sebastien Mariette holds a Master's degree and a Master of Business Administration in International Hospitality Management, which he obtained with distinction. As General Manager of the Middle East region, he now oversees the three Kempinski hotels in Jordan as well as the Kempinski Summerland Hotel & Resort Beirut, Lebanon.
Coming from a family of hoteliers, Qatar-based Karim Tayach will not only manage the Marsa Malaz Kempinski, The Pearl and Kempinski Residences & Suites in Doha, but also the Kempinski Hotel Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman and the Kempinski Al Othman Hotel in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. Karim Tayach has been working in the luxury hotel industry for over 27 years and started his career as a business management trainee at Hyatt Regency Makkah in Saudi Arabia. He then worked his way up through F&B positions at Ritz Carlton hotels in Dubai, Doha and Jakarta, before taking the next step and becoming general manager of Ritz Carlton Jakarta Pacific Place in 2007 and then general manager of Ritz Carlton Bali in 2013. Karim Tayach is a Tunisian-German national who is fluent in English, German and Italian, in addition to his native Arabic and French.
Manish Nambiar is the new regional general manager in charge of Africa for Kempinski Hotels. He joined the company in 2004 as regional executive chef and has held a number of senior management positions, such as manager of Kempinski Soma Bay Hotel in Egypt and Kempinski Delhi Hotel in India. As his career progressed over the past 17 years, he was appointed General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Kenya and then General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra, Ghana. Manish Nambiar completed his hospitality studies at the Indian Institute of Hotel Management and his European Executive MBA at the Reims Management School. After serving as general manager in Accra, he now oversees the Villa Rosa Kempinski Nairobi and the Olare Mara Kempinski Masai Mara in Kenya, the Djibouti Palace Kempinski, the Kempinski Seychelles Resort as well as three hotels in Egypt, the Kempinski Nile Hotel and Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski in Cairo and the Kempinski Hotel Soma Bay.
Given the ever-changing landscape of our industry, this enhanced and very effective new operational structure allows us to be as close as possible to our hotels and owners in the region and gives us the right framework to remain a flexible and agile business partner that adapts and responds effectively and rapidly to the demand
Bernold Schroeder, Chief Executive Officer ad interim and Chairman of the Kempinski Hotels Management Board
