Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts has named Per Kyd Jacobsen as general manager of the Radisson SAS Conference & Airport Hotel in Istanbul.
The 57-year-old Dane replaces Morrocan Mohammed Benamar who moves to Egypt as general manager of the Radisson SAS Golden Resort at Sharm El Sheikh. "This dual move is part of our regionwide restructuring as our expansion plans in Egypt and Turkey are well under way," said Werner Kuendig, senior vice president for the Middle East & Africa at Radisson SAS. Most recently, Jacobsen was based in Copenhagen where he was director of human resources, Denmark. His career spans over 30 years since he first joined Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts in 1969. Benamar, 54, joined Radisson SAS in 1989 as a member of the pre-opening team at the Radisson SAS Scandinavia Hotel in Oslo. During his Turkish assignment, Benamar almost quadrupled the hotel's gross operating profit from 11 per cent in 1999 to 41 per cent in 2001. Meanwhile, Jan Boman has been named as the group's regional financial controller for Middle East. Boman, a Swede, was most recently with Le Meridien Hotels where he held posts in Gabon and Dubai. He also held various financial positions with Sheraton in Sweden, Madeira and mainland Portugal, where he also worked as a tourism consultant with Deloitte & Touche International. "Jan's extensive hospitality industry experience and regional know-how will be an asset for our company, especially now, when our Middle East expansion plans are well under way," said Kuendig. Boman will be based in the chain's regional office in Dubai and have overall financial responsibility for Radisson SAS hotels in Amman, Aqaba, Bahrain, Cape Town, Istanbul, Kuwait, Muscat and Sharm El Sheikh.