Carlson Hotels appoints New Asia Pacific President and MD

Hospitality industry veteran, Jean-Marc Busato, has been appointed President and Managing Director of Carlson Hotels Worldwide – Asia Pacific (CHW-AP). Busato, who will take up his new position in January, 2009, will be based at CHW-AP’s regional headquarters in Singapore.

Busato, a Swiss national joins CHW-AP, one of the world’s largest privately-held hotel companies, from The Rezidor Hotel Group, where he was Area Vice President and Managing Director for Middle East and Africa. The Rezidor Hotel Group is Carlson’s major partner in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Carlson is also the largest single shareholder in Rezidor.

Jay Witzel, president and CEO of Carlson Hotels Worldwide said, “Jean-Marc brings a broad range of experience and proven leadership skills to this position along with an understanding of Carlson Hotels Worldwide and its brands. His talents will play a vital role in the strategy to double the size of our portfolio in Asia over the next four years while increasing market share and building an industry leading organisation.”

At Rezidor, Busato was responsible for aggressively growing the group’s brands in key Middle East markets including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Egypt. Under his leadership, the company’s portfolio in this emerging region reached 23 hotels with more than 5,500 rooms in operation and further 30 hotels with more than 7,500 hotels under development. Upcoming projects include flagships such as the first Hotel Missoni (to debut in Kuwait in 2009) and The Regent Abu Dhabi (2010).

Prior to his role at Rezidor, Busato was Managing Director of Egyptotel S.A.E, a subsidiary of German tourism and shipping giant TUI. Busato helped set up Egyptotel S.A.E and clinched 14 new management contracts for the group’s Iberotel brand in Egypt. He was also responsible for recruiting and training more than 2,000 employees. In addition, he previously worked with Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts in various positions for over ten years and holds a Masters in Hotel Management from the Swiss Hotel Association.

CHW-AP currently has more than 20,000 rooms in operation and under development across the region. Regional AP offices are located in Singapore, supported by reservations, sales and development offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Shanghai, New Delhi and Sydney.

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