Jumeirah Group, the global luxury hospitality company and a member of Dubai Holding, has appointed Gert Kopera as senior vice president food and beverage.

An Austrian national, Gert joins Jumeirah with over 30 years of hospitality and F&B experience, working for some of the most renowned luxury hotels in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and United States, with brands such as Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and Hilton International.

For the past 15 years Gert has been working for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, where in his most recent role as vice president food & beverage, he was responsible for managing F&B operations, F&B strategy as well as conceptual F&B design for the brand. 

In his new role with Jumeirah, Gert will be responsible for concept development, facilitating excellence in operations and driving innovation to ensure that Jumeirah builds on its expertise in the business of food and beverage.

“At Jumeirah we take great pride in the fact that we are recognised for our culinary excellence and talent, as well as the vast choice of dining options that we offer our guests,” said Gerald Lawless, president of Jumeirah Group.

“We also acknowledge that when it comes to food and beverage offerings, we are in a highly competitive market space and need to work hard to continue to outshine the rapidly increasing competition.

“Gert’s appointment will help us in establishing Jumeirah as a world-class operator of food and beverage concepts, delivering consistently high levels of service and profitability,” added Lawless.

Jumeirah currently manages 115 restaurants and bars in Dubai, 12 in Abu Dhabi, and 36 more within its hotels, resorts and residences in London, Frankfurt, Mallorca, Istanbul, Rome, Shanghai and the Maldives.

In addition Kopera will oversee Jumeirah Restaurants, the branded restaurant division of Jumeirah Group, which is tasked with setting up and licensing innovative and successful casual dining concepts to its international network of partners.

The noodle house was the first Jumeirah restaurant brand to be developed as a franchise concept, with licence agreements already signed in 16 countries globally.

The company also has the rights to develop a number of brands from the Caprice Holdings group across the Middle East and North Africa.

This stable includes world-famous restaurants and clubs such as Rivington Grill, Scott’s, Annabel’s and The Ivy.