Hilton Strengthens its Leadership Team with Three New Appointments

Dubai, UAE, 13 January 2023: Hilton (NYSE: HLT)   Hilton has announced the appointment of three senior executives to its Middle East, Africa & Türkiye (MEA&T) leadership team.

Aligi Gardenghi has become Vice President, Operations, Arabian Peninsula, Marie-Louise Ek has been named Vice President, Human Resources, Middle East, Africa & Türkiye and Dean Murphy has become Senior Director, F&B Development, Operations & Openings, Middle East, Africa & Türkiye.

Aligi, who has been with Hilton for more than 20 years, will lead luxury and full-service operations across more than 45 hotels in the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. He has 15 years of experience with Hilton in the Middle East working across business development, revenue management, and marketing. Most recently, Aligi was instrumental in driving performance for more than 6,000 hotels in his position as Vice President, of Americas Marketing. The Italian executive has a wealth of experience across marketing, commercial, and revenue management and has held a range of senior positions at Hilton including Global Vice President, Marketing Performance and Insight; Vice President of Marketing, EMEA, and Commercial Director, MEA.

Marie-Louise will lead Hilton’s human resources function and drive the company’s people and culture strategy across the Middle East, Africa, and Türkiye, where Hilton currently employs more than 30,000 Team Members across its 181 hotels in the region. Marie-Louise is a passionate human resources leader with multi-market experience in Fortune 500 corporations across a range of sectors. A certified executive coach, she joins Hilton from PepsiCo where she was Senior Director of Human Resources for Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

In his new role, Dean will oversee the regional operations, development, and pipeline of openings of food and drink venues, whilst supporting the key strategic priorities of local sourcing and food waste management. Dean joins Hilton from Sunset Hospitality Group where he was Director of Operations, looking after brands and concepts across the GCC. He previously held leadership roles at Jumeirah Restaurant Group.

Jochem-Jan Sleiffer, President, Middle East, Africa & Türkiye, Hilton, said, “These three leaders bring a wealth of experience to the MEA&T team, as we usher in a new golden era of hospitality and prepare to almost double our portfolio in the years ahead. I look forward to working with Aligi, Marie-Louise, and Dean as they take on these key leadership positions.”

About Hilton 

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) is a leading global hospitality company with a portfolio of 18 world-class brands comprising more than 7,000 properties and more than 1.1 million rooms, in 123 countries and territories. Dedicated to fulfilling its founding vision to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality, Hilton has welcomed more than 3 billion guests in its more than 100-year history, earned a top spot on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list and been recognized as a global leader on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for five consecutive years. Hilton has introduced several industry-leading technology enhancements to improve the guest experience, including Digital Key Share, automated complimentary room upgrades and the ability to book confirmed connecting rooms. Through the award-winning guest loyalty program Hilton Honors, the nearly 146 million members who book directly with Hilton can earn Points for hotel stays and experiences money can't buy. With the free Hilton Honors app, guests can book their stay, select their room, check in, unlock their door with a Digital Key and check out, all from their smartphone. Visit stories.hilton.com for more information, and connect with Hilton on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.