Minor Hotel Group has appointed Robert Kunkler as Senior Vice President Hotel Operations. Robert, who is from Freiburg, Germany, will be responsible for the performance of all operating Anantara properties across all geographies, and for the successful opening of those that are already in or join the future openings pipeline.
He joins MHG from Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts where he held the position of regional vice president for operations in Dubai. A veteran of the hospitality industry, he has worked in Germany, the UK, Singapore, the Philippines, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates before joining Jumeirah in 1999 as a member of the pre-opening team for the iconic Burj Al Arab.
Since then, he has held the positions of general manager at three of the group’s hotels, followed by an area general manager role prior to being promoted to his most recent position three years ago.
Having spent many years based in Dubai, he now moves to Minor’s corporate office in Bangkok and takes the reins to drive revenues and operations across the company’s Anantara brand and the recently launched Avani brand.
Robert said: “With four new Anantara properties joining the 17-strong hotel portfolio this year and an ever-growing future pipeline, plus the recent launch of the company’s Avani brand, I am very happy to be joining Minor Hotel Group at such a key time in the company’s expansion.”
Minor Hotel Group has a portfolio of 38 hotels and 37 serviced suites under the Anantara, Marriott, Four Seasons, St Regis, Elewana, Oaks and Minor International brands in Thailand, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Tanzania, Kenya, the UAE, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Avani was created to complement MHG’s 5-star Anantara brand, which offers enriching destination experiences in 17 locations with a pipeline of 50 properties by 2015.
