Kurt Ritter

Company: Rezidor Hotel Group
Position: President and chief executive officer

Biography: Kurt Ritter is the president and chief executive of Brussels-headquartered Rezidor Hotel Group. After graduating from the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne in Switzerland, Ritter worked as assistant general manager at Hotel Bellevue Palace in Bern.

In 1970-76, Ritter worked for the US’ Ramada International Hotels Group in Belgium, France, the UK, Germany and Sweden. In 1976, he was appointed general manager of the SAS Lulea hotel in Sweden. In 1979, Ritter took up his first position in the Middle East as general manager of the SAS hotel in Kuwait. In 1984, Ritter was appointed as vice-president SAS Hotels Middle East.

In 1988, he became president and chief executive officer of SAS hotels. The Rezidor Hotel Group was previously known as Rezidor SAS. Ritter has honorary doctorates from the US’ Johnson & Wales University and the UK’s Oxford Brookes University.

Contact: (+971) 4 390 0070
Website: www.rezidor.com