Accor has appointed Duncan O’Rourke CEO for the Premium, Mid-Range, and Economy division for the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, and Asia Pacific. His appointment follows the promotion of Mark Willis to Fairmont’s worldwide CEO position. O’Rourke will report to Jean-Jacques Morin, Accor’s now-deputy CEO, group CFO and CEO of this division.
O’Rourke has over 30 years of experience in the industry and has held several executive positions in Europe, the United States and the Middle East. He joined Accor in 2016 as COO of Europe for the Luxury and Premium segment, later becoming COO of Central Europe. In that capacity, he oversaw over 470 hotels and 13 brands across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Duncan was appointed CEO of Northern Europe in October 2020, supervising over 1,100 hotels and 40,000 team members across 32 countries, and will join Accor’s executive committee.
In addition, Kamal Rhazali has been appointed as secretary general and general counsel of Accor’s Luxury & Lifestyle division. He will help to establish the Luxury & Lifestyle division, define its strategy, and ensure its consistent implementation. His appointment will be effective February 1st, 2023.
These new announcements come on the heels of Accor appointing Omer Acar to the position of CEO of Raffles & Orient Express, effective March 1, as part of Accor’s new structural changes.
Monica Xuereb has been promoted to chief commercial officer at Loews Hotels & Co. She previously served as chief revenue officer for the New York-based company, which owns and operates 26 hotels in the U.S. and Canada. Xuereb will oversee the company’s commercial strategy, which includes revenue management, sales and marketing, catering & conference services, brand, communications, e-commerce, distribution and the Customer Engagement Center. Xuereb joined Loews in 2013 and has focused on increasing market share and driving top-line revenue and profitability by developing strong business acumen among hotel commercial teams and fostering a data-driven approach to all segments of the business.
Brett Mufson has been appointed president and CEO of Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which is currently under construction and will open in the fourth quarter of 2023. Mufson will be responsible for leading the development of one of the largest construction projects in the U.S. as the new resort becomes part of the next-generation Las Vegas luxury hospitality. He will oversee every detail of design, operations and guest experience.
Jeremy See has been promoted to the role of chief commercial officer for HEI Hotels & Resorts. See will be responsible for overseeing HEI’s sales and revenue management disciplines, driving top-line business, and maximizing the revenue potential of all HEI-managed hotels in this new position.
Scott Youngblood has been named area general manager for Benchmark Pyramid’s five hotels in Portland, Ore.: Hotel deLuxe, Sentinel, Hotel Lucia, The Heathman Hotel and Dossier. Youngblood brings more than 27 years of industry experience and was most recently the general manager of Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington Square in Portland.
Nicolas De Gols has recently joined the team of Le Royal Monceau, Raffles Paris as general manager. He had been the hotel’s interim manager since June and officially took over in December. De Gols began his career with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, where he held positions such as assistant director of food and beverage in Beverly Hills and director of food and beverage in Ibiza. Most recently, he oversaw F&B operations for Accor’s 50-hotel luxury portfolio in Europe, where he developed new F&B concepts and supervised a dozen openings.