Global hotel solutions provider HRS has expanded its business travel presence in Europe with the opening of new offices and two fresh regional appointments.
The company has opened its first office in Amsterdam to serve the Benelux region. Located in the UP waterfront building in the ‘Silicon Island’ area of the city, the ground-floor office is near Amsterdam Central train station and will serve as a hub for HRS’ clients and hotel partners in the region.
In addition, HRS has moved its Paris team into a new office in the city’s La Defense district. Since the team was established in 2006, the company has seen a surge in new business in the region, including the signing of Airbus in October 2018, driving the need for larger facilities. The office at the Tour Initiale Building can accommodate 100 employees, with both desk and meeting spaces.
Chris Crowley, VP of EMEA enterprise solutions, commented: “Our regional and global growth is attracting new clients and a diverse collection of knowledgeable new employees. These factors drive our investments in these great facilities. As we recruit more professionals to serve our growing client roster of corporations and hotels, these centrally-located offices will serve as touch points for productive meetings and creative lodging strategies that help companies optimise their hotel spend.”
In addition to the new offices, HRS has appointed Rob Hornman as senior vice president for EMEA and Veit Fuhrmeister as senior vice president for GSA (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).
Hornman was CEO of Worldhotels following a career with Accorhotels in Asia and Europe. He is also a digitalisation consultant and has acted as a strategic hospitality advisor and board director for hotel groups and hospitality real estate investors in Europe and Africa. Hornman will work alongside Crowley to lead the EMEA region.
Fuhrmeister brings years of experience as an hotelier, most recently as senior director of central and eastern Europe at Expedia. He has also held various management positions in the industry, including COO for Exclusive Hotels and as a board member of Center Parcs and Piere et Vacances.
Lukasz Dabrowski, formerly in charge of HRS’ global hotel and connectivity partnerships for four years, has moved into a new role as SVP for Asia Pacific, based in Tokyo. He will now be tasked with developing business opportunities with hotels and corporations in what HRS is calling its most important growth region.
CEO Tobias Ragge said: “With this organisational development, we are responding to our global growth and preparing for the next level of scaling. With our partners in the regions – corporations as well as hotels – often having different needs, this structure further expands our entrepreneurial spirit through decentralisation, giving us a key competitive advantage.”
corporate.hrs.com