Geneva, 2 December 2019 – Kempinski Hotels S.A. has appointed Christophe Piffaretti as  Chief Development Officer and Member of the Management Board. In this role, Christophe Piffaretti will be responsible for the expansion of the Kempinski portfolio by focusing on the company’s footprint growth in current and new markets as well as supporting the real-estate development strategy. He will also oversee Technical Services & Design of new build and conversion hotel projects before the pre-opening phase.
Christophe Piffaretti brings with him more than 25 years of luxury hotel, real estate and development experience in international markets. He joins Kempinski Hotels from his most recent position of leading two real estate investment funds for Credit Suisse Asset Management, where he was responsible for the strategy, development, operations and performance of a portfolio of over 150 properties in Switzerland with a total value of CHF 3.9 billion, including several hotels as well as senior living, campus and residential properties. Previous senior roles in development include companies such as Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, Residencium and La Perla International Living.
From 1998 until 2007 Christophe Piffaretti already worked for Kempinski Hotels, first in the role of Vice President Development before being promoted to Senior Vice President Development and successfully expanded the company’s portfolio. From 2005 on, he served as Managing Director of Kempinski Residences S.A. where he launched and developed the company’s residential business.
C. Piffaretti is an alumni of the Lausanne Hotel School (Switzerland) and holds a BSc in Economics from the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne. He also holds an Executive MBA from Reims Business School (France) and a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Real Estate Finance from the University of Bern (Switzerland) and Rochester (USA).
