Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has appointed Oliver Bonke as president and COO. Reporting to Shangri-La Asia CEO Lim Beng Chee, Bonke will assume responsibilities on Sept. 1, 2017, and will be based at Shangri-La’s headquarters in Hong Kong. As president and COO, Bonke will oversee the group’s EVP for regional hotel operation and the operational division heads of food and beverage, sales, marketing, rooms, engineering, security and quality improvement.
Bonke has nearly 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, most recently with New York-based Loews Hotels as chief commercial officer. Prior to joining Loews Hotels, Bonke held the same role for InterContinental Hotels Group in the Americas. He was also with Starwood Hotels and Resorts as SVP, sales and marketing covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and in the same role with Starwood in Asia Pacific before then.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts currently operates over 95 hotels in 22 countries and 73 destinations under the Shangri-La, Kerry, Hotel Jen and Traders brands. Prominently in Asia, the group has established its brand over four decades in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Europe, North America and the Indian Ocean. The group has a substantial development pipeline with upcoming projects in mainland China, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.
The announcement follows the opening of its Hotel Jen brand in Beijing, its second under the brand in mainland China, last month. The Hotel Jen Beijing is also the group's fifth hotel in the city. The 450-room hotel in the center of Beijing’s CBD has 13 meeting rooms, a multi-function space for up to 250 people, a health club and two restaurants. The hotel is on the first 22 floors of China World, Tower B, in the China World Trade Center next to a new mall.
Launched in 2014, Hotel Jen has 10 hotels across Asia Pacific, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shenyang, China, Manila, Penang and Johor in Malaysia, Brisbane, Australia, and Malé, Maldives. Hotel Jen is slated to open in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia in 2018.