Meritus Hotels & Resorts has appointed Mr. Gerhard F Kropp as General Manager of its flagship property, the Meritus Mandarin Singapore.ÊAn experienced hotelier who had invested two-thirds of his 30-year hotel career in Asia, Mr Kropp is familiar with Singapore where he had spent the last six years - four with Hotel InterContinental and two with The Fullerton.
Born in Germany and graduated from the Hotel School in Luebeck and Hannover, Mr Kropp worked with Hyatt Hotels in Manila and Hong Kong before joining Six Continents Hotels (formerly known as Bass Hotels & Resorts) in Hong Kong, as F&B Manager rising quickly to the position of Executive Assistant Manager. In 1987, he received his first assignment as General Manager in Manila. He was subsequently posted to Macau and Bangkok before assuming the position of General Manager at the Hotel InterContinental Singapore. In October 2000, he was entrusted with the responsibilities of Director of Operations for the group’s 16 hotels in Singapore and Malaysia, operating under four different brands: the InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Parkroyal Hotels.

In 2003, he joined The Fullerton as General Manager and was also in charge of One Fullerton. Mr Kropp takes over from Alfred Lien who has moved over to the Corporate Office of Meritus Hotels & Resorts as General Manager-Corporate Services.

Mr Lien will initiate the formation of a team to take charge of the group’s corporate and brand advertising activities. The newly created unit which will come under the umbrella of Corporate Marketing will focus on defining the group’s brand attributes in order to establish a strong brand architecture to support the group’s growth and expansion.

Mr Lien will also be in charge of the administration and growth of the Meritus Privilege Club (MPC), the group’s loyalty program which was launched in November 2002 and now has more than 37,000 members globally. Additionally, he will also be responsible for public and community relations, as well as business development in China.
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