Rosewood Hotel Group has appointed four new key leadership positions to support its dynamic global growth and rapid Asia expansion.
Mr. Joe Chang has been appointed chief financial officer for the group; Mr. Hakan Akgun has been appointed vice president for engineering, sustainability and security for the group; Mr. Marc Handl has been promoted to regional vice president, in addition to his current role as managing director of Rosewood Beijing; and Mr. Andrew Turner has been promoted to regional vice president, in addition to his current role as managing director of Rosewood Phuket.
Mr. Chang brings to his role 20 years’ experience in financial services, across both the private and public sectors. He has extensive experience in East Asia, primarily in Japan, mainland China and Hong Kong. Mr. Chang has advised on cross-border acquisitions, capital market financings and IPOs across a variety of industries, including financial services, business services and branded consumer companies. His most recent positions include those of founder and CEO of Lincoln International in China which he built into a leading cross-border M&A advisor; head of investment banking at Hauxin Securities and deputy CEO at Morgan Stanley in China.
Mr. Akgun joins Rosewood Hotel Group from Hyatt Hotels Corporation, where he has over 25 years’ experience as an engineer and hospitality executive focused on technical design services, operations and sustainability. In his previous roles as head of the engineering and sustainability function for the Americas region for Hyatt Hotels Cooperation, and vice president of engineering design and operations for Hyatt International, Mr. Akgun has overseen the design and construction of building systems, engineering operations, maintenance and facility management, and sustainability programs for full-service hotels.
Mr. Handl joined Rosewood in 2017 as area managing director of Rosewood Beijing, where he has been overseeing the group’s properties in Beijing, Shenyang and Langfang across its brands. With his promotion to regional vice president, Mr. Handl will additionally support Rosewood Sanya, and the upcoming opening of Rosewood Guangzhou. Mr. Handl has considerable luxury experience in East Asia, joining from Aman Group in Japan, where he was regional director based at its Tokyo property for almost two years. He previously held positions at Grand Hyatt and BC Fine Living in Beijing, as well as previous general manager posts at The Ritz-Carlton hotels in Osaka and Seoul.
With his promotion to regional vice president, Mr. Turner will support existing Rosewood properties including Luang Prabang and Phnom Penh, as well as providing guidance to upcoming Rosewood openings in Bangkok and Yangon. Mr. Turner joined Rosewood in 2016 as managing director of Rosewood Phuket, overseeing the successful opening of Rosewood’s first resort in Southeast Asia and the brand’s first property in Thailand. An Australian native, Mr. Turner has 22 years’ experience managing both city hotels and resorts across Asia, Middle East, Europe and the United States, most recently at Baccarat Hotel & Residences in New York.
