The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou, scheduled to open in the fall of 2007, has appointed an eight-member guidance team helmed by General Manager Francois J. Cnockaert.
A Ritz-Carlton veteran and internationally seasoned hotelier, Cnockaert came to Guangzhou with 21 years' hotel management experience. In 1993, Cnockaert joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, where he headed the food and beverage division in The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, California, U.S.A. Subsequently, he was promoted as hotel manager in The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco and went on to open The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka and in 1997 and The Ritz-Carlton, Philadelphia as opening General Manager in 1999. Cnockaert gained in-depth Asian knowledge when he worked as General Manager in Hotel Mulia Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia, The Leela Kempinski Mumbai in India, The Swissotel Nankai Osaka (a Raffles International hotel), and The Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Korea.
Jean-Francois Leo Gouvrit is the new hotel manager. With more than 25 years of experience in F&B, Gouvrit was previously executive assistant manager for food and beverage of both The Ritz-Carlton Osaka since 2004 and the Leela Palace Bangalore, India. Gouvrit started his career as an apprentice in Michelin Star Restaurant La Chamade in Bordeaux and gained in-depth operational experience through working as commis, wine-waiter, Maitre D, advisor, and consultant in different restaurants in France and Britain. He joined the Ritz-Carlton Osaka as an opening team manager in 1997. After that, he worked in The Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai and The Ritz-Carlton Millennia, Singapore.
Ramus Seah is the new executive assistant manager for rooms. Previously, he was the director of quality at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong and director of corporate rooms-quality of Shangri-la Hotel & Resort. Seah joined the Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore when the hotel opened in 1995, where he then worked his way through the hotel business as guest service manager, front office manager, director of guest services, director of quality and executive assistant manager-rooms.
Patrick Chung is The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou's new director of finance. A finance veteran of over 30 years in the hotel industry with spanning career in Canada, China, Russia and Hong Kong, Chung previously headed department of finance in properties of Aerostart, Marriott, Peninsula, Four Seasons and Canadian Pacific Hotels. Chung began his career as controller in Empress Hotel in Canada. Then he worked in Four Seasons' properties across Canada. In 2001, Chung joined Aerostar Hotel in Moscow as director of finance after six years working in China as director of finance of The Palace Hotel, Beijing; Marriott Shenzhen; Jing Jiang New World Beijing; and Marriott Shanghai.
Kristy Lee is the new director of sales and marketing. Previously holding the position of director of sales and marketing at Langham Hotel Hong Kong since 2005, Lee is a seasoned leader of sales and marketing with experience in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Starting her career as a management trainee at The Ritz Taipei, Lee worked her way through the hotel business as sales manager of Conrad International; senior sales manager of Kowloon Shangri-La; director of catering and meeting services of Pudong Shangri-La; project manager of sales and marketing of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts; and director of sales of the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel since 2003.
A human resource specialist with more than 10 years of experience Diana Huang is the new director of human resources. Huang was previously the director of human resources at Holiday Inn Shifu Guangzhou since 2004. Since she joined the industry in 1997, Huang has attended the training and education programs from Zhongshan University and holds a postgraduate diploma in Human Resources Management from the University of Hong Kong. After joining the Ritz-Carlton Guangzhou, Huang received a series of management training programs by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in Washington, D. C., Hong Kong and Tokyo.
With more than 25 years of experience in F&B, Thierry Marais has been named the new executive chef. He was previously executive chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin since 2005 and executive chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong since 2003. Marais started his chef career as an apprentice in renowned restaurants in France and gained solid F&B experience through working as commis, chef de saucier, chef de cuisine in different restaurants and executive sous chef of the Swissotel The Bosphorus and Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur. He joined The Ritz-Carlton in 2000 and opened The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul as executive chef.
An American Chinese with more than 20 years of experience, Albert Suen is the new director of engineering. He was previously assistant director of engineering of The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, a hotel that leads the chain in cutting-edge energy saving by being one of the first hotels generating its own electricity in the U.S. His prior experience includes director of engineering of the properties of Westin and Crown Plaza.