Hilton Worldwide beefs up Middle East & Africa management team

Hilton Worldwide has announced five new appointments to its senior management team in Middle East & Africa (MEA), in line with the company’s expansion plans and focus in the region.

“We are delighted to further strengthen our regional Dubai-based team. With Middle East & Africa a key development region for us, we will have many more appointments to announce over the next few months. Our current operations and development plans demand specialised expertise in several functions including design and development, brand performance support, as well as F&B,” said Jean-Paul Herzog, President, Hilton Worldwide, Middle East & Africa.

With development plans for 19 properties, and over 5,000 rooms spanning the GCC, Egypt, Levant and Africa, three of the new recruits are to Hilton Worldwide’s design and construction team:

• Ishaq Al Najjar – Director of Development & Design, Hilton Worldwide, MEA.
• Cristian Vidaurre – Director of Development & Design, Hilton Worldwide, MEA.
• Ludwig Scherdel – Director of Engineering, Hilton Worldwide, MEA overseeing the MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) requirements for our properties during the development, design and construction process.

Marc Descrozaille, Senior Director, Brand Performance Support, Hilton Hotels

Ludwig Scherdel, Director of Engineering, Hilton Worldwide

Knud Bundgaard, Area Executive Chef,Hilton Worldwide MEA

Ishaq Al Najjar, Director of Development & Design, Hilton Worldwide, MEA

Cristian Vidaurre, Director of Development & Design, Hilton Worldwide, MEA

All three report to Victor Rodrigues, Vice President, Technical Services, Hilton Worldwide, MEA.

Furthermore, Marc Descrozaille joins as Senior Director of Brand Performance Support for the Hilton brand in MEA, optimising performance in quality, concept definition, distribution channels and marketing tools for all Hilton hotels across the region.

“Hilton was recently voted the number one hotel brand in the Middle East by BDRC, and Marc’s efforts in the region will help us maintain this lead,” continued Herzog.

Hilton Worldwide has also appointed Knud Bundgaard to the position of Area Executive Chef for 42 Hilton Worldwide properties in the area. Bundgaard is responsible for driving quality and innovation in Hilton’s F&B outlets, reporting to Simon Lazarus, Area Director of F&B, Hilton Worldwide, MEA.