Kempinski Hotels Appoints New COO

Duncan O’Rourke, who stepped down from his role as Chief Operating Officer of Kempinski Hotels, has been succeeded by Marcus van der Wal.

Marcus van der Wal, a highly experienced international hotelier who has been with Kempinski Hotels since 1998, has proven his operational expertise through a series of important postings in the group’s portfolio.

He was most recently SVP Europe, overseeing 22 properties, while serving as General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel Airport Munich since 2010.

Van der Wal actually started his career at that very same hotel in 1998, as Executive Assistant Manager, having previously worked in management positions at Radisson, Sheraton and Intercontinental in Austria, Brazil and Venezuela.

At Kempinski, he was soon promoted to Hotel Manager at Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center, before becoming General Manager at the Kilimanjaro Kempinski Hotel in Tanzania, where he gained his first regional role.

In 2006, van der Wal was appointed General Manager and Regional Director for Central Europe and the Baltic States while overseeing the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus in Budapest, before returning to Munich.

He studied French at the University of Nice, has a Hotel Management Diploma from Glion Hotel School in Switzerland, as well as an MBA from Reims Management School in France.

Alejandro Bernabé, CEO, said he is “delighted that Marcus van der Wal accepted to take on this vital role in leading the group’s operations. I am fully confident that Marcus van der Wal, in his new role as Chief Operating Officer for Kempinski Hotels, will complement the other members of the Management Board, by translating the group strategy into operational initiatives and performance.”

“While I understand and respect Duncan O’Rourke’s decision, I know that we will miss his insights and operational expertise at Kempinski. On behalf of the Management Board, I would like to thank Duncan for having been part of writing an important chapter of Kempinski’s story, during a time of unprecedented expansion of our portfolio of luxury hotels,” he added.