Wyndham strengthens leadership team in EMEA

Wyndham Hotel Group has made two new appointments to strengthen its Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA) leadership team.

Patrick Divall has been appointed to the role of Regional Vice President, Western Europe, and Ignace Bauwens to the role of Regional Vice President, Middle East and Africa.

Patrick Divall

Divall joins the company from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, where he was most recently the Regional Director of Finance, Western Europe, and brings more than 30 years’ experience in the hospitality industry. In his new role, he will report into Dan Ruff, President and Managing Director, EMEA, and be responsible for driving growth of Wyndham Hotel Group’s portfolio in Western Europe, which currently includes more than 150 hotels. He will be based at the company’s London office.

Divall said: “I have a particular passion for growing and nurturing teams and therefore am delighted to join Wyndham Hotel Group at a time when our portfolio of managed and franchised hotels across Western Europe is growing at an incredible pace.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to continue our explosive growth and build on Wyndham Hotel Group’s brand recognition in this region.”

Bauwens joins Wyndham Hotel Group with almost 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including senior operations roles at Accor and InterContinental Hotels Group. Based in the Middle East since 2002, he most recently served as Managing Director for BLH bvba Hospitality Consultancy and as CEO of Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH). In his new role, Bauwens will oversee one of Wyndham Hotel Group’s fastest-growing regions. He will also report into Dan Ruff and will be based at the company’s Dubai office.

Ignace Bauwens

Bauwens said: “Wyndham Hotel Group has a very bold development strategy – to ensure that wherever adventure leads, travellers can find our hotel brands nearby.

“Nowhere in EMEA is this strategy more evident than in the Middle East and Africa. I look forward to continuing in the remarkable work the team has done establishing our brands in some of the most exciting travel destinations on the planet.”

This year Wyndham Hotel Group has reached important development milestones in EMEA, including introducing the Super 8 brand to Europe, opening the company’s 50th hotel in Turkey, expanding into Greece with the Wyndham Grand Athens and announcing new hotels in emergent destinations such as Oman, Iraq and Ethiopia.