IHG has two new senior leaders for its European properties. Mario Maxeiner has been appointed managing director for Northern Europe, based in the company’s recently opened Frankfurt office and Eric Viale takes up the role of managing director Southern Europe, based in IHG’s Paris office.
Maxeiner will be responsible for driving the sustainable and long-term growth of IHG and the performance of its franchised hotels in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Scandinavia and Poland. Viale will be responsible for driving commercial and operations performance across the Southern Europe franchised hotel estate, including key markets such as France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Both roles report to IHG managing director for Europe, Karin Sheppard.
Photo credit: IHG
Currently IHG’s VP of commercial in Greater China, Maxeiner joined IHG in 2015, bringing more than 20 years' of commercial experience in the hospitality industry, including 17 years with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in regional and global roles. For the past two years, he has led strategic initiatives to drive commercial performance and grow IHG market share in China.
Photo credit: IHG
Eric Viale was previously the area GM for Portugal and has 23 years of experience in the hotel business. Over the past 15 years, he has worked in a multitude of positions within IHG, spanning commercial and operations leadership roles, both in corporate offices and hotels.
The new leadership roles will be responsible for driving accelerated growth across the franchised estate in Europe.
IHG’s recent initiatives include the continued rollout of the Holiday Inn Open Lobby concept as well as new room designs for Holiday Inn Express, new Crowne Plaza work-life room designs and the Plaza Workspace, a technology-enabled public space designed for solo work as well as small group meetings.