Henk Meyknecht

COO, Middle East & Africa

The industry has never been more global, with guests increasingly on the lookout for unique experiences to match their individual tastes and preferences. Luxury hospitality demands constant attention to detail and we believe Kempinski is perfectly positioned, as an independent luxury hotel company with a long- term view to deliver this exceptional experience. This entrepreneurial spirit is embedded in the heritage and culture of Kempinski. Our strategy is to remain an independent, European, luxury hotel operator with a ‘small is beautiful’ philosophy. This translates into our development projects which are focused on select destinations, where we can blend our brand of luxury European hospitality with the local culture of the community in which we operate. This year at Kempinski Al Othman Hotel Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia, we featured a Ramadan tent in the Grand Ballroom, which was well received by the local community. For us, customization isn’t just a marketing gimmick, it’s truly part of our original DNA. In the Middle East, we benefit from strong brand recognition. With our continued expansion as a group into Central Asia, India and China, we expect these feeder markets to further strengthen our performance in the Middle East. In particular, there is strong interest in the meetings and events segment from these emerging markets. We are actively expanding our presence in the Middle East and Africa through selective growth, with projects in destinations in line with our brand. Overall, we are optimistic about the long-term outlook for luxury hospitality in MENA, particularly in growing cities within Saudi Arabia, as well as UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. In KSA, we are planning future developments in Jeddah and Medina. Our aim is to operate luxury hotels in each key city within the GCC and we look forward to opening the Kempinski Hotel Muscat at the end of 2017, while moving forward on new potential projects in Bahrain and Kuwait. In Africa, we are exploring in Addis Ababa, Dakar, Rabat and Tunis.