Kempinski Hotels appoints new Vice President PR
Maria Kuhn becomes responsible for Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group’s global Public Relations function. With Maria Kuhn, Kempinski Hotels is taking a profoundly experienced PR expert as Vice President PR onboard. Based in Geneva, the German national will be responsible for Kempinski’s worldwide Public Relations function by managing and coordinating the global, regional and hotel PR teams. She will guide and oversee PR efforts to position Kempinski as a leading luxury lifestyle brand and will ensure that all PR activities are globally consistent and in line with overall group messages. The five Regional Directors of PR in Berlin (responsible for Germany, Austria and Switzerland), London (responsible for UK and Ireland), Moscow (responsible for Eastern Europe), Dubai (responsible for Middle East and Africa) and Beijing (responsible for China) will report directly to her and support her efforts. Maria will start her new position as of June 1, 2012, and will report directly to Duncan O’Rourke, Kempinski Hotels’ Chief Operating Officer. She joins Kempinski from Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd., Hong Kong, where she held the position of Director of Corporate Communications and was responsible for the company’s worldwide communications strategy – both internally and externally.
Maria has an outstanding PR background with longstanding international experience and an extensive network in hospitality in Asia, the Americas and Europe. After her apprenticeship at the Hotel Schloss Schoenburg in Germany, Maria started her Public Relations career as PR Coordinator at the Mark Hopkins Inter-Continental Hotel, San Francisco, where she was promoted to Public Relations Manager in 1999. Two years later she was appointed Director of Public Relations at the Four Seasons Hotel in London, responsible for all media coverage for the 220-room luxury hotel in local and international media. After three years, Maria moved to Bangkok being promoted to Regional Director of Public Relations Thailand for Four Seasons Thailand, overseeing four hotels, before being appointed Director of Corporate Communications at Shangri-La International based in Hong Kong in 2010.
In addition to her German mother tongue, Maria Kuhn speaks fluent English and has basic knowledge of French.