HotelsMag January-February 2012 | Page 43

THE INTERVIEW : RETO WITTWER
DETERMINED TO POSITION KEMPINSKI SEPARATELY FROM ITS LUXURY COMPETITION , CEO RETO WITTWER OPERATES BEST BY MARCHING TO HIS OWN BEAT .
By Jeff Weinstein , editor in chief

Reto Wittwer has been with Kempinski for 17 years — a long time to be with one company , “ especially by American standards ,” quips the upfront and somewhat rebellious 63-year-old CEO of the Geneva-based luxury brand . In fact , there are very few things that are American about Wittwer , or his authentically European company with some 66 hotels mostly across Europe , the Middle East and Africa — unless you include his desire to add U . S . hotels , albeit only in New York and Los Angeles . While a succession plan is in place ( Wittwer says he is grooming COO Duncan O ’ Rourke ), the always restless leader still has many new ideas and strategies he wants to implement , including slightly reshaping Kempinski ’ s traditional approach to hotelkeeping , growing his contemporary Chinese brand , Nuo , and suggesting there is more brand news to come in the near term .

He is constantly striving to reinvent himself , which he says makes it difficult for those around him to keep pace with his approach . For now , he is busy opening seven hotels in China this year , as well as others in Beirut , Moscow and Vilnius , Lithuania . At the same time , he continues to look for deals in missing European gateways such as London , Paris and Barcelona , shifting F & B strategies , spending 50 % of his time working with his team on people issues and determinedly forever evolving the Kempinski culture .
HOTELS spoke to Wittwer just before the New Year while he was in Jakarta . What follows includes his reflections on the state of luxury hotelkeeping , an update on his professional passions and input about further development around the world .
HOTELS : You say you and Kempinski are never standing still . What is next ?
Reto Wittwer : We also say we will never have more hotels in operation than the age of our company , meaning 114 years , 114 hotels . To sell a cap to shareholders is not easy , so you have to become better at what you do and more selective .
Two things that are not compatible with luxury : mass and class don ’ t mix . Where is the line in the sand that says this is one hotel too many and standardization is definitely not luxury ? Both are attributes we don ’ t practice . We cap our growth and don ’ t standardize — more by historical default and design , I admit , but we might as well make an advantage out of it .
The Kempinski Hotel Das Tirol , Jochberg / Kitzbuehel is the company ’ s first in Austria . www . hotelsmag . com January / February 2012 HOTELS 41