Speaker profile

Marloes Knippenberg

Chief Executive Officer
Kerten Hospitality

Chair of the Jury
SHC

The award-winning CEO of Kerten Hospitality, Marloes Knippenberg, has established the organization as a disruptive, dynamic international hospitality group dedicated to the management of mixed-use developments in key global destinations.

Her journey in the hospitality field started with Hilton where Marloes held senior operational and commercial management positions for over a decade. At the helm of Kerten Hospitality, which she developed and launched with the backing of Kerten, Ireland-based investment vehicle, Marloes has grown the organization’s operational and pipeline portfolio from one brand in one country to 12 aspirational lifestyle-driven concepts in 35+ development projects across 3 continents.

Known for her mentorship empowering the next generation of hoteliers, the topic of sustainability within the larger context of ecosystem’s build and the creation of “authentic” experiences in “’Cities of the Future” developments, Marloes continuously pioneers the role of innovation across the whole value chain of investors, owners, academia and the hospitality leadership. Empowerment of female hospitality leaders within WiH Group has been her latest commitment.

She sits on the Vice Chair role of GRI’s Hospitality Club connecting C-Suite real estate and Infrastructure leaders from around the world. In addition, Marloes serves on the Advisory Boards of flagship events like IHIDC – Vienna, AHIC - UAE, HITEC - Dubai, IHIF - Berlin and is frequently invited to contribute Though Leadership to industry forums: ITHIC - Italy, SHIC - Saudi Arabia, HOST – London and The Retail Summit, Dubai. She has been a mentor for students in hospitality schools and was recently on the jury panel of the GENIO Innovation Summit by Hotelschool The Hague.

Marloes has been listed in the Hotelier Middle East Power List 2019 ranking the region’s most influential industry professionals. Most recently, she was listed in Hotelier Middle East 25 'women in hospitality power list' is a result of those women who are making waves in the industry. She is the Winner of CEO Today’s 2020 Business Women of the Year recognition in hospitality.