Fairmont Hotels Appoints Mark Willis as CEO and Yigit Sezgin as CBCO

Tue, 25 April 2023

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Fairmont Hotels Appoints Mark Willis as CEO and Yigit Sezgin as CBCO

(25/04/23) Fairmont Hotels has appointed Mark Willis as Chief Executive Officer and Yigit Sezgin as Chief Brand & Commercial Officer.

Mark Willis

As CEO, Mark Willis is responsible for the luxury brand’s portfolio of more than 100 hotels in operation and under development globally.

Mark has more than three decades of high-level hospitality industry experience, working with brands such as IHG and Sun International, as well as the Radisson Hotel Group where he spent many years in senior leadership positions, including Senior Vice President Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

Mark holds an MBA in International Business from Oxford University in England and has completed several senior management programmes at Cornell University, New York.

Prior to taking the helm at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Mark was CEO for India, Middle East, Africa & Turkey (IMEAT) at Accor, overseeing a portfolio of more than 520 hotels in operation and development across 20-plus diverse brands.

Yigit Sezgin

As Fairmont's Chief Brand & Commercial Officer, Yigit Sezgin is responsible for leading the entire brand and commercial strategy globally.

He has lived around the globe in 8 cities during the last 25 years and held senior executive roles across international luxury brands, including The Ritz-Carlton, Carlson Rezidor and BLG Capital Fund.

Yigit joins the team after four successful years as Chief Commercial Officer for Accor IMEAT, where he oversaw a portfolio of more than 425 hotels across 42 brands in 41 countries, in charge of all commercial functions, mergers & acquisitions, lifestyle platform and integrations.

Yigit holds a Master’s Degree from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, from Bosphorus University in Istanbul.

Marhaba Dubai!

Accor relocated Fairmont’sglobal headquarters from Paris to Dubai earlier this month, believing the relocation will allow the brand to take better advantage of opportunities within the region, chosen for its strategic proximity to Europe, Asia and Africa.

The appointments of Mark Willis and Yigit Sezgin also follow parent company, Accor’s, move to consolidate its brands into two divisions: a premium, midscale division as well as a luxury and lifestyle division. The latter comprises a further four divisions that manage the brands within it, including the Dubai office, which now manages Fairmont’s worldwide properties.

Fairmont has a pipeline of more than 30 hotels around the world, with upcoming openings extending from the Red Sea to Bangkok, La Paz Mexico to Prague.

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