New Asian leadership for Rosewood Hotel Group

Rosewood Hotel Group has named four executives to key leadership positions to support its global growth and Asia expansion..

Joe Chang has been appointed CFO for the group; Hakan Akgun has been appointed VP for engineering, sustainability and security; Marc Handl has been promoted to regional VP, in addition to his current role as managing director of Rosewood Beijing; and Andrew Turner has been promoted to regional VP, in addition to his current role as managing director of Rosewood Phuket.
 

Chang has 20 years’ experience in financial services across both the private and public sectors. He has extensive experience in East Asia, primarily in Japan, mainland China and Hong Kong.

He has advised on cross-border acquisitions, capital-market financings and IPOs across a variety of industries, including financial services, business services and branded consumer companies. His most recent positions include founder and CEO of Lincoln International in China, which he built into a cross-border M&A advisor; head of investment banking at Hauxin Securities; and deputy CEO at Morgan Stanley in China.
 

Akgun joins Rosewood Hotel Group from Hyatt Hotels Corporation, where he spent more than 25 years as an engineer and hospitality executive focused on technical design services, operations and sustainability. In his previous roles as head of the engineering and sustainability function for the Americas region for Hyatt and VP of engineering design and operations for Hyatt International,

Akgun has overseen the design and construction of building systems, engineering operations, maintenance and facility management, and sustainability programs for full-service hotels.

 

 

 

Handl joined Rosewood in 2017 as area managing director of Rosewood Beijing, where he has been overseeing the group’s properties in Beijing, Shenyang and Langfang across its brands. With his promotion to regional VP, Handl will additionally support Rosewood Sanya, and the upcoming opening of Rosewood Guangzhou. Handl has experience in East Asia, joining the company from Aman Group in Japan, where he was regional director based at its Tokyo property. He previously held positions at Grand Hyatt and BC Fine Living in Beijing, as well as previous general manager posts at The Ritz-Carlton hotels in Osaka and Seoul. 

 

With his promotion to regional VP, Turner supports existing Rosewood properties, including Luang Prabang and Phnom Penh, as well as providing guidance to upcoming Rosewood openings in Bangkok and Yangon. Turner joined Rosewood in 2016 as managing director of Rosewood Phuket, overseeing the launch of Rosewood’s first resort in Southeast Asia and the brand’s first property in Thailand.

An Australian native, Turner has 22 years’ experience managing both city hotels and resorts across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States, most recently at Baccarat Hotel & Residences in New York.