Rosewood Hotel Group has announced the appointment of Joerg Zobel as Chief Operating Officer filling a key executive role for the global luxury lifestyle and hospitality group. Joerg’s appointment arrives at a pivotal point for the company, as it continues to execute the group’s ambitious vision and growth strategy.
An accomplished executive with over 25 years of global experience steering consumer-facing companies towards sustained growth and market leadership, Joerg will head Rosewood Hotel Group’s global operations across the group’s four brands including Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, New World Hotels & Resorts, Asaya, and Carlyle & Co. He will be responsible for driving the commercial success and operational excellence, overseeing all teams across both functions. Based out of Rosewood’s Hong Kong headquarters, he joins on September 25, 2023, and will report directly to Sonia Cheng, Chief Executive Officer.
Joerg has a wealth of experience leading global companies on their own growth journeys, brand positioning, and value creation. He has a proven track record as a corporate leader, board member, and investor, and has global experience across multiple continents including Europe and Asia Pacific. In his most recent role, he served as the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Eschenbach Optik GmbH, one of Europe’s largest eyewear groups. Prior to that, he served as General Manager, Asia Pacific for PUMA, where he led the brand to commercial success in the region. Joerg is also a published author who has written about a diverse array of topics from industry disruption to the pursuit of happiness.
Joerg will lead the group’s retail and e-commerce teams, where his expertise will be critical to further developing and growing the Rosewood lifestyle brand. Further, as the group continues to focus on delivering a forward-thinking customer-centric approach across all guest touch points, Joerg will also be responsible for steering Rosewood’s global CRM and guest experience teams.
“Joerg’s many achievements leading global companies to operational and commercial success align perfectly with the ambitious vision we’ve set for Rosewood Hotel Group as we continue to expand beyond traditional hospitality.” said Sonia Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Rosewood Hotel Group. “We’ve chartered a new path for Rosewood across multiple touchpoints of the business, and we are confident Joerg will drive our operations to deliver on this vision.”
With 46 hotels, resorts and private member clubs, currently operating, Rosewood Hotel Group’s pipeline is at its strongest in history, with 38 projects under development and future openings in Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Maldives, United States and Mexico. This includes 27 new projects for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, six stand-alone projects for Rosewood Residences, and five for New World Hotels & Resorts. Asaya, Rosewood’s innovative well-being concept, currently operates in five destinations with 28 future openings. Carlyle & Co., the group’s modern and progressive private members club opened in Hong Kong in 2021 as the flagship, with future plans to expand globally.
