Belmond appoints new development director for MEAI

Belmond has appointed David Grossniklaus as Senior Director of Development Middle East, Africa and India.

Based in Belmond’s newly-opened development office in the heart of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), in the United Arab Emirates, Grossniklaus will focus on growing Belmond’s footprint across the region with new hotel developments and conversion opportunities.

Kenneth Hatton, Senior Vice President for Global Development commented: “David joins Belmond at an exciting time of growth, as we move forward with thestrategic plan to double the footprint of the Company by 2020. We are keen to pursue acquisition and management opportunities across the Middle East and Indian Ocean and the experience and expertise that David brings to the role will be valuable assets to this endeavour, and a tremendous spring board for the launch of our first office in the region.”

With more than 16 years of hospitality industry experience, Grossniklaus joins Belmond from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, where he held the position of Associate Director Acquisitions and Development for the Middle East and Africa. During his three years at Starwood, he closed several prominent deals across the GCC, Ethiopia, Lebanon and South Africa.

Having first worked with Belmond during an internship as eDistribution Manager in 2002 while studying at Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, Grossniklaus has since taken roles with Deloitte/STR Global, as well as Fairmont-Raffles Hotels International, working on new development for Swissotel.