CEO – Kerten Hospitality
Marloes Knippenberg is known as a pioneer of the modern mixed-use developments philosophy that lies at the heart of lifestyle destinations revolving around personalized experiences for all. Her visionary leadership has helped carve an industry niche where ESG rests at the core of operations, business processes, as well as the whole value chain of suppliers, owners, guests and teams.
Amplifying the Kerten Hospitality brand from 1 brand in 1 country, seven years ago to a global lifestyle group with over 40 projects, Marloes has always remained loyal to her mission – to continue expanding the lifestyle footprint across curated lifestyle destinations where collaborations, personal connections and a common Purpose drive all stakeholders and build longevity of projects, and empower the businesses and the communities around. She is unafraid to rethink spaces, to fight classical industry norms and to inspire teams to collaboratively drive cross-industry partnerships for real impact.
Her journey in the hospitality field started with Hilton where Marloes held senior operational and commercial management positions for over a decade. But her greatest passion has consistently been nurturing of young talents, advocating industry transformation and inspiring teams and peers to embrace a more sustainable agenda for people, communities and every single guest. As a vivid supporter of a greener and constantly evolving industry, she serves as an ambassador of the now global Hospitality Student Challenge by Hotelschool the Hague that has transformed into a platform where the investment community and the brighter minds of tomorrow connect, challenge each other and recreate the future of hospitality.
She sits on advisory boards of flagship forums, such as AHIC- UAE, SHIC- KSA, IHIDC – Vienna, IHIF – Berlin, and ATM- Dubai, and is often invited to speak at forums: ITB- Berlin, ITHIC – Italy, HOST – London and The Future Hospitality Summit.
In the last 3 years, Marloes has been listed in the Hotelier Middle East Power List ranking the region’s most influential industry professionals. She is the Winner of CEO Today’s 2020 Business Women of the Year recognition in hospitality.