Leading hospitality group Hyatt has announced two senior appointments in its fast-expanding Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) region - Heidi Kunkel has been named Senior Vice President for Commercial Services, while Monique Dekker is the Senior Vice President for Human Resources.
The appointments bolster the region’s executive team as it prepares for continued growth under the leadership of EAME Group President Javier Águila, said a statement from Hyatt.
In 2022, 45% of the 120 hotels that joined the global Hyatt portfolio were based in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The region’s contribution to the Hyatt growth journey continues into 2023, with 10% of its record pipeline of 117,000 rooms expected to join the portfolio in EAME markets.
Both leaders bring extensive experience in the hospitality sector in some of Hyatt’s primary growth markets alongside a track record of championing and progressing equitable practices in the workplace, it stated.
According to Hyatt, the appointments of Heidi and Monique will increase female representation at the highest levels of the organisation as part of an intentional strategy to attract and recruit exceptional female talent into leadership positions, in its regional Head Office and across its portfolio of hotels.
"Kunkel and Dekker are incredible talents and will be instrumental as Hyatt continues growing with intent here in EAME," remarked Javier Águila, the Group President for EAME.
"As we scale, we want to attract and develop strong leaders who will take our culture and purpose of care out into our new properties and across our corporate offices, infusing this philosophy with our partners. I couldn’t think of two more perfect professionals to help us achieve that ambition," he added.
Kunkel will lead Hyatt’s Commercial Services function in EAME, which combines sales, revenue management, distribution strategy, corporate marketing, brands, communications and digital, along with oversight for the World of Hyatt loyalty platform.
She joins from Hilton Hotels and Resorts, where she held the position of Vice President of Operations for Australasia, and, previously, spent 15 years at Club Med with Commercial and Operations responsibility across Asia Pacific and Europe & Africa.
She has an enviable track record of achieving uplifts in revenue, profitability, operational efficiency and employee engagement across the Pacific region, Southeast Asia and Europe / Africa.
"As we scale, we want to attract and develop strong leaders who will take our culture and purpose of care out into our new properties and across our corporate offices, infusing this philosophy with our partners. I couldn’t think of two more perfect professionals to help us achieve that ambition," stated Aguila.
On Dekker, Hyatt said the Netherlands-born executive has more than 25 years service at Grand Hyatt New York. After numerous posts across Hyatt properties in Tokyo, Düsseldorf, Chicago and Singapore, she took on the coveted role of General Manager at the Park Hyatt Vienna, one of the group’s most iconic properties in Europe.
She combined that role with that of Area Vice President for Austria, Czech Republic, Italy and Hungary, whilst also serving on the group’s Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council and was Chair for Women @ Hyatt –a global initiative to accelerate and increase professional growth opportunities for female employees, with 13 chapters and more than 600 colleagues directly involved in EAME alone.
In her new role, Dekker will be responsible for bringing Hyatt’s purpose to life as it scales, creating professional opportunities for its growing workforce of more than 18,000 professionals in EAME at every level. Besides driving the development and retention of the industry’s best talent, she will advance a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace.-TradeArabia News Service