In a move that underlines Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts’ commitment to global expansion and brand proliferation, the company has announced the appointment of Andrew Langdon as chief development officer.

The role is a new position created by the Swiss hospitality management company as part of its continuing efforts to grow and solidify the brand’s position as a leading international hotel operator.

Langdon takes on the challenge having led the company in Asia over the past two years in the position of senior vice president, Asia, where he oversaw a period of aggressive expansion with nine operating hotels and 20 more in the pipeline.

Prior to joining Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts he was executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels & Hospitality Group in Asia.

Asia remains a key expansion market for the Swiss hospitality group and Langdon’s focus will continue to be on the region while driving growth opportunities in the Middle East, Africa and Europe in order to meet the company’s global vision of operating more than 100 properties by 2020.

“We are well under way to exceeding our 2020 target with 36 properties planned or under construction to add to the 83 hotels we currently operate, furthermore we are well on the way to reaching our objective of signing up to an additional 20 more hotels and resorts in 2017 alone,” said Langdon.

“Asia will continue to be central to our growth strategy with recent milestones accomplished with the opening of Bali, Indonesia, Colombo, Sri Lanka and Bangkok, Thailand, already this year, with a further five hotels to open in the Philippines, China and three more in Thailand in 2017.”

Other milestones this year have been the signing of properties in new countries for Mövenpick such as in the Maldives, Sylhet, Bangladesh, two in Muscat, Oman, and a project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – plus in new cities such as Lahore, Pakistan, for Mövenpick’s third hotel in the country and Turaif in Saudi Arabia where the company currently operates 11 hotels with five more in the pipeline.

Olivier Chavy, president, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts added: “With the creation of this new role, we now have a dedicated professional who is tasked with the very specific objective to drive growth and develop the Mövenpick brand in key targeted destinations.

“All the regional development teams will report to Andrew to ensure a structured and unified approach. With the right assets and partners in multiple locations we are extremely confident we can meet our goals while setting new standards for hospitality globally,” he said.