Bansko, 21 August 2019 – Kempinski Hotels has appointed Christian Ruge as the new General Manager at Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko, Bulgaria. Having worked in Germany, New York, Poland, Egypt, China, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, Christian Ruge brings more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry to his new position.
Christian Ruge started his career at Hotel InterContinental Frankfurt in Germany, where he held various leadership positions in Front Office. In 2001 he moved to Hotel InterContinental in New York as Assistant Manager returning in 2003 back to Germany to take on the role of Assistant Front Office Manager at Hotel InterContinental Berlin and Revenue Manager at Hotel Le Meridien Munich. His career path continued with a change to the French luxury hotel brand Sofitel, with which he spent over eight years, working for Sofitel Munich Bayerpost in Germany, Sofitel Wroclaw Old Town in Poland and Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor in Egypt. In 2012 he joined the Kempinski family as Hotel Manager of Kempinski Hotel Airport Munich followed by a promotion to General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Taiyuan in China. In 2017 Christian Ruge moved to the United Arab Emirates as General Manager of Kempinski Hotel Ajman. His last appointment before arriving at Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko was the position of General Manager of Burj Rafal Hotel Kempinski in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Christian Ruge holds a Master of Business Administration of the University of Wales and is certified in Rooms and Strategic Management by Cornell University. He is a German national and, in addition to his mother tongue, speaks fluent English and conversational Spanish and French.Christian Ruge is taking over his new position from Natalia Kashirskaya, who served as General Manager of the most awarded hotel in Bulgaria during the last two years.
 Like all hotels of the luxurious European hotel group, Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world’s largest alliance of independent hotel brands, and offers various benefits to members through the Kempinski Discovery Loyalty Programme.
