Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has announced the appointment of five development roles across Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA). The new hires are part of the company’s strategic plan to place resources closer to the business and spearhead growth across the region.
The newly appointed roles, Ronald Egelman, (UK, Ireland and Nordics), Nicholas Dimopoulos, (Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Montenegro), as well as Arpit Pant, Nikhil Sasidharan and Siddharth Kochhar (all in Eurasia), bring a wealth of hospitality experience and skills, which will be instrumental in driving the continued growth of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in their respective markets.
The move follows the recent promotion of Govind Mundra to Head of Development Eurasia and Rafik Kamel to Director of Development for the Middle East and Africa, both focusing on hotel conversion opportunities in high potential markets where Wyndham is already making significant strides.
Following its continued growth momentum in 2021, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts welcomed several important openings in EMEA this year, including its first entry to Poland, the expansion of Trademark Collection by Wyndham in Portugal while also celebrating its 50th hotel mark in India, amongst other milestones. The company’s current development pipeline includes over 100 hotels in 30 countries in EMEA.
Panos Loupasis, Vice President Development Middle East, Eurasia and Africa, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, commented: “We are excited to expand our development capabilities with these important roles, which perfectly complement our existing talented teams. Their experience and focus will play a key role in accelerating our ambitious development goals for the region.”
Christian Michel, Vice President Development Europe, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, added: “We are proud to see Wyndham’s growth momentum in EMEA and we look forward to our continued expansion in many exciting markets. Our strategy is to bring our expertise closer to our hotel partners and these new roles will allow us to capitalise on more exciting opportunities ahead.”
The newly appointed roles, which will be complemented by two additional hires for Iberia and the Central Europe region in the coming months, include:
Ronald Egelman is the new Senior Director of Development for the UK, Ireland and Nordics. Ronald brings over 25 years of experience in hotel operations, corporate finance, asset management and hotel development. He recently served as Director of Development Middle East & Africa for IHG where he spent most of his career, alongside several other positions at Marriot and independent hotels in Europe.
Nicholas Dimopoulos joins as Development Manager for Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Montenegro. Nicholas’s experience includes hotel planning, real estate monitoring, feasibility and finance for several projects in the region. He joins from Aeternal Hotels & Hospitality.
Arpit Pant is the new Development Director for Eurasia. With 20 years of experience working in hotels, residences and vacation rentals in multiple markets across South Asia and the Middle East, Arpit has served several roles involving asset management, feasibility, sales, marketing and finance.
Nikhil Sasidharan joins Wyndham as Development Manager for Eurasia, focusing on opportunities in the leisure segment in sought-after destinations in South India, such as Goa, Kerala and more. He worked as General Manager for Lemon Tree Hotels, heading up operations and revenue management for hotels in Goa, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Jaipur.
Siddharth Kochhar joins Wyndham as Development Manager for Eurasia from hospitality company Bloomrooms. Siddharth brings local knowledge and expertise in new business opportunities in the mid-market sector across India.
