Ex-Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen joins citizenM's advisory board

Dutch hospitality group citizenM appointed Frits van Paasschen, ex-CEO of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Group, to its advisory board.

Van Paasschen is a global executive who has knowledge of the FMCG and service industries. In addition to having worked with Starwood Hotels and Coors Brewing Company, he has also held several managerial positions with Nike, ultimately becoming Nike’s president of Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Frits van Paasschen

This year saw the publication of his book, "The Disruptors’ Feast: How to Avoid Being Devoured in Today's Rapidly Changing Global Economy" – a look into future industry disruptors from digital technology and global development to urbanization and business disruption.

In addition to providing support to several tech companies based in the Netherlands and United States, Van Paasschen’s primary role at citizenM will be to advise the company on its global development strategy.

“We’ve enjoyed a remarkable success with the citizenM model and are now pursuing a strategy of vigorous growth in Europe, the USA and Asia," Rattan Chadha, founder & CEO of citizenM, said in a statement. "With his background and experience in hospitality and his understanding of technology trends, we know that Frits van Paasschen will prove an enormous asset to us, providing strategic advice on our future development and progress. As a disruptive brand ourselves, we like to work with those who favor innovation and change and we are delighted to have an executive of his caliber on our board."