Day: April 1, 2022

• Wilhelm Bender elected Chairman of Supervisory Board
• Oliver Bonke will serve as new CEO
• André Witschi and Marcus Bernhardt leave Steigenberger Hotels AG
• Company targets to take off again after a challenging period in the market
• Realising full potential of Deutsche Hospitality brands is top priority

FRANKFURT, Germany, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Steigenberger Hotels AG is shaping the future of hospitality under a new leadership. In today’s supervisory board meeting, Professor Wilhelm Bender has been elected Chairman. Oliver Bonke joins the company and will serve as CEO.

Jihong He, CEO International Business of Huazhu Group, says: “I am pleased to welcome Wilhelm Bender, an internationally highly recognized manager and supervisory board member. His experience in managing complex transformation processes will be essential as we take off again after a challenging period in the market.”

Bender served as Chairman of the Executive Board of Fraport AG for seventeen years. He is since then active in various supervisory boards and company advisory boards.

Professor Wilhelm Bender says: “Since my Frankfurt childhood days I am familiar with Steigenberger, and I have been close to the company for my whole career. I feel privileged to serve as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Steigenberger Hotels AG as of today. Mutual trust and respect will be my guiding principles as we kick off our joint mission with the owner Huazhu Group, the executive board and the entire supervisory board.”

Oliver Bonke has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry. At Shangri-La Group, he served as CEO Middle East, Europe, India, Americas, based in New York, and President & COO, based in Hong Kong. Prior to that he acted as Chief Commercial Officer of the U.S. based luxury hotel chain Loews Hotels & Co. Other career stations included the role of Chief Commercial Officer of InterContinental Hotels Group in North and South America as well as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing EMEA and before that Asia Pacific of Starwood Hotels and Resorts.

Jihong He states: “Oliver Bonke is a distinguished expert of the global hotel industry. He has proven his ability to build and grow business on three continents. I got to know Oliver as an inspirational leader who is constantly pushing innovation on all fronts, and I am sure he will make our brands shine brightly.”

Oliver Bonke says: “Deutsche Hospitality today is a well-respected, relevant player in the market. It will be an honour to work with Huazhu and the global team to realise the full potential of this remarkable company and its brands.”

André Witschi had recently resigned from his Chairman position. Also, Marcus Bernhardt leaves the company. “I would like to thank André Witschi and Marcus Bernhardt for their work and wish them all the best for their future endeavours,”, says Jihong He.

Current press information is available in our press portal .

About Huazhu Group Limited
Originated in China, Huazhu Group Limited is a world-leading hotel group. As of December 31, 2021, Huazhu operated 7,830 hotels with 753,216 rooms in operation in 17 countries. Huazhu’s brands include Hi Inn, HanTing Hotel, Starway Hotel, Orange Hotel, Crystal Orange Hotel, Manxin Hotel, Madison Hotel, Joya Hotel, Blossom House, Ni Hao Hotel and CitiGO Hotel. Upon the completion of the acquisition of Deutsche Hospitality on January 2, 2020, Huazhu added new brands to its portfolio, including IntercityHotel, Jaz in the City, MAXX by Deutsche Hospitality, Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts and Zleep Hotels. In addition, Huazhu also has the rights as master franchisee for Ibis, Ibis Styles and Mercure, and co-development rights for Grand Mercure and Novotel, in the pan-China region.

About Deutsche Hospitality
Deutsche Hospitality operates eight hotel brands. The company is represented on three continents with more than 160 properties, around 40 of which are currently in planning or under construction. Deutsche Hospitality/Steigenberger Hotels AG is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Press contact
Deutsche Hospitality │ Lyoner Straße 25 │ 60528 Frankfurt am Main
Sven Hirschler │ Tel: +49 69 66564-422
E-mail: sven.hirschler@deutschehospitality.com
www.deutschehospitality.com

– Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) –

BEIJING, March 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — China is intensifying efforts to plant trees nationwide as it strives to honor its pledges to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials have taken the lead in afforestation. When attending a tree-planting activity in Beijing on Wednesday, Xi said forests have the capacity to conserve water, bring in economic benefits, boost grain production, and also serve well as a carbon sink.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has participated in tree-planting activities for 10 consecutive years since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012.

‘Sow seeds of ecological conservation’

China designated March 12 as the National Tree-Planting Day in 1979. The National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, launched a nationwide voluntary tree-planting campaign in 1981, stipulating that every able-bodied citizen above 11 should plant three to five trees each year.

“I want to do my bit for the Beautiful China initiative, and also to sow the seeds of ecological conservation in the entire society, among Chinese youth in particular,” Xi said during this year’s activity at an urban recreation park in Huangcun Town in Beijing’s Daxing District.

He planted saplings of Chinese pine, flowering peach, magnolia, crab apple and Chinese ash.

“With perseverance and accumulated efforts, we will be able to make our country’s sky bluer, mountains lusher, waters clearer and the environment more beautiful,” he said.

Describing forests as a “carbon sink,” Xi said forests and grasslands are of fundamental and strategic significance for the country’s ecological security.

He called for prioritizing ecological conservation and pursuing green development with a “holistic approach.”

“We will protect and manage our ecosystems involving mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands and deserts with a holistic approach, carry out greening programs systematically, and increase both quantity and quality of forest and grassland resources,” he said.

Forests’ role in carbon reduction

“Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” a notion raised by Xi, has become a guiding principle in China’s ecological conservation endeavors.

In recent years, China made pledges to peak emissions of carbon dioxide before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. It also vows to advance the green transformation of the social and economic development, according to the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and long-range objectives through 2035, the country’s latest development blueprint.

Afforestation plays a crucial role in turning these ideas into reality, as carbon sinks, like forests and grasslands, absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

China’s forest coverage and forest reserves have both maintained growth for the last 30 years, and the country has realized the largest growth in forest resources among all countries, according to China’s white paper on biodiversity conservation released last October.

At the end of 2020, China’s forest area stood at 220 million hectares, with a forest coverage rate of 23 percent, and a forest carbon storage of 9.19 billion tonnes, according to the white paper.

In 2021, China planted 3.6 million hectares of forest and converted 380,800 hectares of farmland into forest, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said in a bulletin on March 11. The country plans to plant 6.4 million hectares of trees and grass this year.

To support the increase of carbon sink capacity in the forestry sector, China Development Bank recently issued loans worth about 114.1 billion yuan (around $17.95 billion) to promote key ecological areas such as the national reserve forest construction and forest quality improvements.

The bank, one of the country’s primary policy banks, has supported the cultivation and maintenance of forests covering nearly four million hectares, which are expected to absorb 72 million tonnes of carbon per year after 2030.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-03-31/China-steps-up-tree-planting-efforts-to-reduce-carbon-emissions-18QrTqA6rHq/index.html

Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49KymgvycfA