KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 23, 2017 — Sunway Hotels & Resorts, the hospitality division of Malaysian-based property-construction conglomerate Sunway Group, has announced the appointment of Michael Monks as General Manager for Sunway Putra Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Drawing on over 35 years of hospitality industry experience, Michael is responsible for the overall operations and business growth at Sunway's 650-room hotel, strategically located opposite Kuala Lumpur's Putra World Trade Centre (PTWC).
Michael is a British national who joins Sunway from being General Manager of the 312-room Crowne Plaza Xi'an in China. Prior to that, Michael served as General Manager in Shangri-La's Fijian Resort & Spa in Fiji, Shangri-La's Golden Flower Hotel Xi'an, China, Shangri-La Hangzhou, China and Traders Hotel Manila, Philippines. The Kenyan-born hotelier worked in Seychelles as General Manager of the Beau Vallon Bay Hotel and held several senior leadership rooms' division roles with Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts in Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Michael brings diverse technical experiences in sustainable development. He was involved in numerous environmental, eco-hotel and tourism projects in Guyana, Seychelles and Maldives as a lead consultant; providing environmental protection consultancy in the areas of waste management, water quality, urban planning, infrastructure design, and related environmental protection tasks and training.
Michael completed several professional development programmes at the University of Hawaii Tourism & Travel Management School, Cornell University School of Hotel Management, Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre (SHATEC), Singapore Management University and Nanyang University Singapore.
Albert Cheong, CEO of Sunway Hotels & Resorts said, "Michael's breadth of experience lends itself well into his new role at Sunway Putra Hotel Kuala Lumpur; where his immediate task is to steer the Hotel's business growth, financial performance, guest experiences and employee enrichment programmes. He brings a diverse set of hospitality and project management experiences which span across many countries; with close to 15 years in China. Given the importance of China as one our strategic growth markets, Michael's extensive market knowledge augers well as Sunway activates several partnerships in driving stronger hotel performance."
