Further to the group’s separate announcement regarding the retirement of Reto Wittwer and the succession of Alejandro Bernabé to CEO, as part of a long-term succession plan, Kempinski Hotels announces that Duncan O’Rourke has yesterday stepped down from his role as Chief Operating Officer to consider other career opportunities. He is succeeded by Marcus van der Wal (right) as Chief Operating Officer of Kempinski Hotels, effective October 29, 2014.
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 has shown his ability to handle a variety of hotel operations and contribute to Kempinski Hotels’ relationships with hotel owners, resulting in his most recent regional position as 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.
Duncan O’Rourke (left) was one of the industry’s youngest COOs when he was nominated from within the group for this important role in 2008, yet had already gained a wealth of international experience across several luxury hotel brands, including Rosewood and Marco Polo (in Washington, Moscow and Saudi Arabia) before joining Mövenpick as Director of Operations for their Gastronomy Division in Switzerland. For Kempinski, O’Rourke opened properties in Thessaloniki, London and by the Dead Sea in Jordan, before taking on the role of COO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. O’Rourke has successfully led the group’s operations during a time of exponential growth, overseeing the opening of over 35 properties in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and China. This is an impressive track record which was achieved while also ensuring the group’s focus on quality and standards.
Alejandro Bernabé, CEO, says “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.”
