Guido de Wilde

Company: Starwood Hotels and Resorts in the Middle East

Position: Senior vice president, regional director

Biography: As senior vice president, regional director of Starwood Hotels and Resorts in the Middle East, Guido de Wilde brings with him over 30 years of international experience in the hotel industry to the region.

In his role, Guido is responsible for the operation of all Starwood properties in the Middle East (nearly 50 hotels and resorts) and leads the development of Starwood’s brands in this rapidly expanding region.

Guido started his career with Starwood in 1983 and has since then held various management positions in Bahrain, Morocco, Germany, Belgium and Portugal.

Prior to his current appointment, Guido was the area manager for Starwood Hotels in Portugal and general manager of the prestigious Sheraton Algarve hotel and pine cliffs resort.

Belgian national and holder of licentiate in Germanic philology from the University of Ghent in Belgium, Guido de Wilde continued his specialidation in Norwegian Language, literature and history at the University of Oslo. De Wilde also holds a degree in marketing from the Institute of Social Sciences, The Hague.

His love for languages and educational background makes him today a multilingual person who enjoys communicating in seven different languages, which include Dutch, English, French, German, Portuguese, Swedish and Norwegian.