12. Christian Muhr, Vice President Egypt & Levant, Hilton Worldwide
Despite the security challenges, Muhr has had a year marked by revenue growth and landmark openings
Personally recommended by Hilton Worldwide MEA & Turkey president Rudi Jagersbacher, Christian Muhr leads operations of the Egypt & Levant region for Hilton Worldwide, along with driving regional strategy development — with a pipeline of 11 hotels across these markets, all of which are expected to open in the coming 3-5 years.
In the last year, Muhr has had to face a number of challenges, not least because of the security concerns in the region he handles. Hilton Worldwide, under his leadership, has advanced the development of its first DoubleTree by Hilton in Egypt & Levant, with the expected opening of DoubleTree by Hilton Ain Al Sokhna (197 rooms), Egypt, in 2019.
Given this potential, Muhr is finalising negotiations to widen its brand portfolio in Ain Al Sokhna, with the introduction of its first Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotel in the area. As Hilton Worldwide continues to build on its long-standing legacy in Egypt, a country it has served for more than 55 years, the hospitality company expanded its resort presence in April 2016, with the unveiling of its 18th property in Egypt in the form of the Hilton Alexandria King’s Ranch (199 rooms).
This is soon to be joined by Hilton Cairo Nile Maadi (257 rooms), which is currently under development and expected to welcome guests by 2018, bringing Hilton Worldwide’s multi-brand presence in Cairo up to five hotels.
As part of a wider drive to grow its presence of resorts across the region, Hilton Worldwide is also progressing towards the opening of one of the largest resorts under development in its EMEA pipeline portfolio, with the expected opening of Jordan’s Hilton Dead Sea Resort & Spa (285 rooms) later this year. After the success of Hilton Worldwide’s mid-market brand launches in the UAE in 2015, the company now confirms that it has extended its focus on value hotel options to Egypt & Levant, revealing its plans to open Hilton Garden Inn Damietta Beach (130 rooms), exclusively to Hotelier Middle East. In the wider region where Christian Muhr sits on the EMEA executive committee and MEA leadership team, the last year has been a period of firsts and landmark openings — ranging across a multitude of brands including Conrad Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Garden Inn, Embassy by Hilton, Hampton by Hilton, and The Curio Collection.
Muhr tells Hotelier: “My vision for Egypt & Levant is to continue to deliver growth in order to stimulate the economy, in spite of the headwinds we face, and to evolve our business and team member mindsets, for the only constant in the industry is change. Our hotels in Egypt & Levant have increased their bottomline performance year-on-year in spite of the difficulties faced by the region.”
By the numbers
3 Number of years in role
34 Number of years with company
22 Number of Middle East operating hotels
11 Number of Middle East pipeline hotels
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