Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts' very own mover and shaker visits Dubai

Mr. Pérès is a player who sees re-engineering and restructuring his business as an attractive challenge.

His biggest challenge has been to restructure Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts, the international hotel chain founded in the early 1970's. Mr. Pérès became president and CEO of Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts in 1999, a year after group restructuring turned Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts into a separate business unit. One of his major achievements has been to recreate the Group as a distinctive brand. Mr. Jean Gabriel Pérès highlights two qualities that differentiate Mövenpick from rival hotel brands.

"One is that it is a Swiss company, with all the values and qualities that this represents; Mövenpick's second weapon is its reputation for great food". The group started life as a restaurant brand in 1948 before diversifying into hotel management.

The expansion target for the next three to five years is to double the chain's capacity with primary focus on Europe, the Middle East and Africa, based on adding 8 to 10 hotels per year. 2004 will see the opening of three new properties within the Middle East region. Having just re-branded an existing hotel in Dubai, Mr. Jean Gabriel Pérès' sights are on the next opening in 2005 - The Pearl, again in Dubai.

Mr. Pérès, referring to the earlier days, says "Mövenpick was a company with huge potential, which had not been developed. It is like a Sleeping Beauty, and I think the beauty has been reawakened by a management team, which has brought a lot of competence, skill and dedication to the business."