Corinthia Hotels appoints Marco Nijhof to head hotel oerations

CHI is the exclusive operator of the luxury Corinthia brand as well as the Wyndham and Ramada Plaza Brands in Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EMEA). Marco will be directing the company’s strategic operational objectives to maximize product quality, guest satisfaction and profitability.

Marco Nijhof joins CHI following an illustrious international career. His last appointment was that of senior vice president of the Kuwaiti Commercial Real Estate Center Company, with responsibility for the operation, development and management of their five-star luxury hotel investments. Prior to that, Marco was the Dubai-based senior vice president Middle East, Africa and South Asia for Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts. Prior to Jumeirah, Marco was based in Paris as the director of operations and of development for Serena Hotels, owned and operated by the secretariat of his highness the Aga Khan. Between 2001 and 2003 he was the chief operating officer and a main board director of the Boscolo Group & Boscolo International, responsible for the Group’s hotel business.

Welcoming Marco’s appointment CHI’s CEO & MD Tony Potter said “Marco Nijhof joins CHI at an extremely exciting time, when we are actively expanding our hotel operations across all our brands both in our traditional European markets as also in key emerging destinations, especially in Africa and the Middle East. With his extraordinary senior executive experience and his extensive international luxury hospitality knowledge and talent, Marco will be influential in supporting our rapid growth, while at the same time overseeing and improving our current operational base. He is certainly a great asset to the Group.”

“CHI Hotels and Resorts was a natural move for me” commented Marco. “Importantly, apart from its wonderful properties worldwide, the company puts great focus on its team members and on superior product quality throughout, which are both very close to my heart. I am truly excited by the prospect of working as both coach and team-player in helping to grow CHI further.”

Marco, a Dutch national, obtained certificates in Strategic Negotiations and in High Performance Financial Management from Harvard University and Cornell University respectively. Besides his native language, he also speaks English, French, German, Italian and Greek. He is based at CHI’s headquarters in Floriana, Malta.