United Kingdom-based hotel management firm Kew Green Hotels has a new CEO in David Taylor.
In a news release, Kew Green's ownership company, China Tourism Group Corp. or CTG, said its board had appointed Taylor as chief executive following a year of leadership by interim CEO James Kim.
In the release, Taylor said he believed it is an exciting time for the firm and added he sought to “unlock new opportunities, drive sustainable performance and deliver exceptional experiences for our guests.”
For the last six years, Taylor has been president and CEO at Croatian hotel firm Adriatic Luxury Hotels, which has a dozen hotels and villas in and close to Dubrovnik.
Kew Green operates a portfolio of 57 hotels with another four on the way. It manages branded hotels under flags such as Best Western, Courtyard by Marriott, Mercure, Voco and Wyndham. It also manages independents, including The Selwyn in Kew Green’s hometown of Richmond upon Thames, Surrey.
By far the largest part of Kew Green's hotel portfolio is composed of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Holiday Inn brands. It has five Holiday Inn Express hotels and 25 Holiday Inn properties, all in the U.K.
Kew Green is IHG’s largest operations partner for Holiday Inn in the United Kingdom.
The company also has one hotel under an in-house brand, the 173-room Kew Green Hotel Wanchai in Hong Kong, and soon it will begin operating two Cassia-branded hotels in Bangkok, part of the Banyan Tree Group.
Of its open portfolio, only six are outside of the U.K. All are in Thailand with the exception of the Hong Kong property. The four upcoming properties are also international ones, with three in Bangkok and one in Azemmour, Morocco, 60 miles southwest along the Atlantic Ocean coast from Casablanca.
Kew Green has had a Chinese and Southeast Asian connection since August 2015 when China's HK CTS, now CTG, acquired it for approximately £400 million ($534 million). At the time, HK CTS said at that time it planned on seeking expansion throughout that region.