Jochen Schmid Email & Phone Number

Qatar

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Founded by seasoned professionals, drawing upon over 35 years of international expertise in luxury hotel real estate investment and asset management including 8 years of real estate management within the Gulf region. Witnessing a predominantly sales centric approach to real estate within the UAE region, we saw an opportunity, to establish a bespoke luxury real estate company in the UAE, serving a discerning clientele demanding in depth knowledge about selected key locations, high level of personalized service, and most importantly, trust and integrity. Beyond sales, we build lasting relationships, tailoring each interaction to our customer’s unique investment objectives.

Doha, Qatar

Leading all Hospitality aspects of a prestigious 350 room and apartment internationally branded luxury hotel development, that is part of an interconnected mixed use development within a prime location at the Corniche in Doha, Qatar.

Doha, |Qatar

Reporting directly to the Chairman of the holding company.Overseeing and leading the strategy and operation of 3 hotels as well as the development and strategy of new domestic and international hotel projects.• Successfully restructured the Best Western Hotel Doha within the first 18 months to increase revenue and reduce costs whilst increasing profit by 40%• Managed successfully the Best Western Hotel Doha ( 4* Hotel with 168 Rooms and Suites, later rebranded as Plaza Inn Doha) to be consistently the Market Leader in its 4 star competitive set in Ocupancy, Average Rate and Revpar from 2011 until its rebranding in 2014.• Managed successfully the Al Seef Hotel ( 3* star Hotel later rebranded as City Inn Doha) to be as well consistently the Market Leader in the 3star competitive set in Ocupancy, Average Rate and Revpar from 2011 until 2015• Developed two hotel brands , the 3* brand ( CITY INN HOTEL) and the 4* brand (PLAZA INN HOTEL) with the objective to rebrand our company’s existing owned and managed hotel properties as well as driving the brands for future expansions in the gulf region as well as internationally where and when applicable.• In May 2014, rebranded the 4 star BEST WESTERN DOHA to “PLAZA INN DOHA” and the 3 star AL SEEF HOTEL to “CITY INN AL SEEF”.• Throughout the more than 6 years, I was intensively engaged in sourcing and presenting new hotel investment projects, developing feasibility studies including 5 year P&L (Profit and Loss) projections and financing strategies for various top 5 star international hotel acquisitions in France and UK. Due to a steadily diminishing investment appetite of targeted co-investors in Qatar, these highly lucrative investment opportunities did finally not materialize

Doha, Qatar

Pre-Opening General Manager, reporting directly to the President of Aspire In charge of the pre-opening project of the new 167 room and suite ultra-luxury hotel in the Aspire Zone Doha, Qatar, prior to its handover to the newly appointed Management Company, Grand Heritage, in June 2011.• The hotel was poised to be the most high tech and state of the art hotel in Doha opened within the iconic landmark Torch Tower in the center of the Aspire Zone.• 167 futuristic rooms and suites boosting the latest in LED light design and IT technology as well as audio visual tecnology throughout the hotel.• State of the art Video Conferencing technology• 3 Restaurants and 6 Bars & Lounges• 3 Banquet Rooms Responsibilities and Achievements• Leading the preopening team in all strategic and operational preopening tasks• Design the operations concept to meet envisioned ultra luxury level of product service• Set up of operational departments and recruitment of key managerial positions• Selection of operating equipment in all operational departments

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ROSEWOOD HOTELS & RESORTSAl Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a member of ‘The Leading Hotels of the World’. 224 Rooms and 6 F&B outlets.(www.alfaisaliahhotel.com )Hotel Manager, reporting to the Managing Director Rosewood hotels MEA.• 224 rooms and suites, 6 outlets, market leader in the ultra luxury competitor set.• Only hotel in KSA providing butler service for all 224 rooms and suites with 31 fully trained Butlers by Robert Watson Butler School in London.• Largest pillar less Ballroom in Riyadh and the KSA hosting most of the Royal Weddings in the region.Responsibilities• In charge of day to day operation of the hotel.• Leading 558 staff, I was given the task to improve the overall service level of the ultra luxury property having the lowest ‘Market Metrix ‘guest survey ratings in the Rosewood group when I started.Major achievements:• Implemented within the first three months powerful quality management systems and programs allowing the team to increase the hotel “Market Metrix Guest Satisfaction Score “from the lowest in the group to be consistently 8-10% points higher and be placed in the top tier of the Rosewood group. By far the highest increase in the hotel groupworldwide.• Initiated with Director of Training programs and trainings for staff to reduce turnover.• The hotel successfully managed to maintained the highest GOP in the group by lowering the overall expenses through effective human resources and cost management whilst achieving the service improvements above.

Hotel Manager, managing the daily operation of the hotel and reporting directly to the President Kempinski Middle East and Africa. Boutique hotel with 183 rooms and suites, 10 distinctive Food and Beverage outlets featuring Asian and Western cuisines at its best. Large pillar less Ballroom for sit down dinners of up to 800 pax and state of the art meeting and video conferencing facilities. Responsibilities • In charge of the day to day operation of the hotel • Fine tuning the service level and operations flows of the hotel whilst maintaining the exceptionally high profit margins of the hotel.Achievements• Maintaining the budgeted profits whilst renovating 30% of the hotels room inventories during the summer• Improved overall guest satisfaction and achieved 86 % overall score in the survey conducted by Leading Quality Assurance, the official service rating company for “ Leading Hotels of the World”

Beijing, China.

Hotel Manager of the flagship property of Kempinski China. Reporting to the Managing Director of the 523 room hotel including 138 showrooms and offices as well as 178 apartments managed by Kempinski..Responsibilities• In charge of day to day operations.• Maintaining and fine tuning the high service standards of the hotel. • Instrumental in the planning of the first stage of the renovation project encompassing the public area facilities and Lobby Lounge.Achievements• Establishment of focus groups and brainstorming teams for the repositioning of one of the hotels low performing outlets with the objective to increase market penetration within the market segment's competitive set, increasing revenues and profitability of the outlet. • Maintaining excellent customer relations with the very high profile clients of the Corporate World and Diplomatic Quarters to capture profitable events and business leads for the hotel.• Instrumental in the planning and execution of high level Head of States visits from Germany, Israel and Africa

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

General Manager, reporting directly to the owner and SVP-Meritus Hotels and Resorts( Management company discontinued management contract for Hotel Istana in September 2005 and handed hotel back to the owners ) Traditional 5-star hotel in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.Largest pillar less Ballroom with a capacity of 1400 pax for dinner.Achievemnets:- Lead the restructuring and re-positioning process of the top 5 star luxury hotel-New recruitment of 80% of Head of Departents-Presentation of the required Renovation Project of 516 rooms and suites with detailed budget and ROI strategy.-In 2005 achieved 30% increase in Corporate room nights vs 2004.

Berlin, Germany

Worked with former CEO Star Cruises for a six-month assignment during the pre-opening and strategic planning period.Tropical Island ,with 66,000 sqm, is the world’s largest in-door park featuring tropical jungles, 6 tropical villages, oceans, lagoons and a variety of authentic tropical F&B concepts for the capacity of 10,000 visitors a day.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Leading , guiding and supporting the operation of 6 cruise ships whilst being directly responsible for the operation and standards in Guest Service, Housekeeping, Laundry, Embarkation of the entire fleet of star cruise vessels.Successful implementation of newly established operational standards and procedures for the fleet.

South East Asia

Opening and Management of Star Cruises first Mega Star Cruise Ships with mulstiple entertainment facilities, 13 restaurants, 12 bars and 2800 passengers

Kuala Lumpur

Opening and Management of Rooms Division Departments of the largest 5 star luxury hotel in Kuala Lumpur with 523 rooms

Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Certification In Hotel Real Estate Investment And Asset Management, Professional Certification Program

Activities and Societies: Hotel Investment and Asset Management

Masters, Mba (Entrepreneurship)

Pdp, Hotel Management

Activities and Societies: Member of the ALUMNI ASSOCIATION of Cornell University New York. "Professional Development Programs".

Pdp, Hotel Management

Activities and Societies: Member of the ALUMNI ASSOCIATION of Cornell University New York. "Professional Development Programs.