John Witt, who joined Mandarin Oriental in August 1998, has gained extensive international experience in financial planning, control and business development in a variety of consumer industries.
"While Peter has been with us for a short period, he has successfully seen through the recent rights issue and the acquisition of the Rafael Hotel Group. We would like to wish him well with his move, which is clearly an excellent opportunity for him," said Edouard Ettedgui, Chief Executive Officer of Mandarin Oriental International Limited. "With John Witt's solid business background and his extensive knowledge of our Group, I believe he is ideally qualified to help Mandarin Oriental meet its strategic vision of becoming one of the top global luxury hotel groups," he added.
Mr Witt, 36, is a Canadian national and is married with four children. He is a qualified chartered accountant and has a bachelor degree from the University of Toronto, Canada as well as a MBA from INSEAD in France.
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is an international hotel investment and management group operating 12 deluxe and first class hotels worldwide with further hotels under development in New York City and Miami, Florida. The Group has equity interests in all but one of its properties and net assets of approximately US$700 million. In total Mandarin Oriental
employs approximately 6,000 staff in 12 countries. In line with the Group's growth strategy to progress year on year towards doubling the capacity to 10,000 rooms in major business centres and key leisure destinations worldwide, Mandarin Oriental announced on 20th April 2000 its acquisition of the Rafael Group, which comprises six distinctive luxury hotels in key locations worldwide.