Kempinski’s Barbara Muckermann on inclusion, expansion and human connections

For more than a century, Kempinski Hotels has defined European elegance and timeless service, welcoming royals, celebrities, and travellers seeking a refined sense of luxury. Today, under the leadership of Barbara Muckermann, its first female CEO, the 128-year-old brand is writing a new chapter. With an ambitious expansion plan that includes more than 30 new hotels and residences across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, Kempinski is embracing the region’s fast-evolving taste for authentic, curated luxury while staying true to its heritage.

In this conversation with Gulf Business, Muckermann reflects on the balance between tradition and reinvention, the power of diversity, and the trends reshaping what true luxury means for the next generation of travellers.

Kempinski is Europe’s oldest luxury hospitality group, and you’re the first female CEO in its 128-year history. How do you balance preserving its European heritage while adapting the brand to the rapidly evolving Middle Eastern luxury market?

Our brand and heritage are tremendous strengths. As Europe’s oldest luxury hospitality group, they speak to timeless elegance, craftsmanship, and a deeper commitment to service excellence. In discovering the history of the brand, I learned that Kempinski has always been in the vanguard of hospitality, originating several service innovations that we take for granted today. In addition, Kempinski has been the first choice for royals, diplomats, and celebrities throughout its history, which helps drive our commitment to luxury.

For the Middle East, where guests’ expectations are constantly evolving, we see an exciting opportunity to reinterpret true luxury in a way that resonates. For example, we are working to increase the number of historic and resort properties in our portfolio, so that loyal guests can stay within the Kempinski ecosystem throughout their travels.

Equally important has been the process of empowering our regional teams and investing in talent and leadership. Incredible experiences and great service aren’t just about polish – they’re about creating experiences that feed the human spirit and help build connections. That human connection is what brings the Kempinski experience to life, wherever we are in the world.

Kempinski plans to add more than 30 new hotels and residences across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. What specific opportunities do you see in the GCC, and how will you ensure these new properties resonate with local culture and ultra‑luxury expectations?

We see strong growth opportunities within the region, particularly in destinations that position themselves as global lifestyle and cultural hubs – Riyadh, Doha and Dubai for example – as well as emerging leisure destinations such as Oman and Saudi Arabia. We are enhancing our current properties to ensure that they can provide curated, high-touch luxury experiences that go beyond traditional hospitality.

We know from experience that Kempinski guests seek a genuine connection to the places they visit and want to be immersed in the destination, as opposed to feeling they could be anywhere in the world. So, the more of the destination we can reflect, from the moment someone walks into the lobby, the more meaningful and memorable the stay becomes. A big part of that is working closely with regional developers, artists and designers to reflect the aesthetics, values and expectations in every aspect of the guest experience.

Of course, the MENA region is also an important source of outbound travel for properties in Asia, Europe and Africa. We are seeing strong interest from the region across our portfolio, particularly as we add new properties. A great example is the Kempinski Royal Residence Nymphenburg, just outside of Munich, which we started operating this year.

Nymphenburg was the Royal House of Bavaria for more than 200 years and it is more than a luxurious retreat – it is a living monument to royal history and lifestyle, and that distinct offering is proving very appealing to families from the Gulf region.

You’ve emphasised regional structure rather than central control from Geneva. How does this decentralisation enable your Middle East teams to deliver authentic, localised luxury experiences?

We’ve placed a strong focus on deepening our presence in the key regions of Europe and the Middle East. The former because that is where our roots are and where we work with many institutional partners, and the latter to be close to our shareholders and to benefit from the region’s strong growth. This is strategically very important.

One of the first things I wanted to reinforce when I joined Kempinski was the importance of a strong regional structure. We are immensely proud of our heritage and global standards, but true luxury is always local and needs to reflect the cultural context and nuances of each market. By trusting the people who are closest to the experience, we give them the tools and freedom to shape guest experiences in a way that feels authentic.

In practice, this provides for greater agility and deeper cultural alignment. It also builds stronger relationships with our owners, because we’re able to respond quickly and with a real understanding of what success looks like in their specific market.

Building a diverse leadership team is one of your priorities. Could you share how you’ve championed gender diversity and other inclusive practices since taking the helm?

Building a diverse leadership team can truly shape a stronger, more thoughtful brand. When you bring different perspectives to the table, especially in a space like luxury hospitality, it changes the way you think about everything, from design to guest experience. I’ve been very intentional about bringing more women into senior roles, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it genuinely improves the way we operate.

As one example, Nadine Al Bulushi, who was the first Omani woman to become a hotel general manager, leads Kempinski Hotel Muscat and was recently named GM of the Year: Oman in the Hotelier Middle East Awards. Rasha Lababidi joined us as chief product officer and immediately started asking the kinds of questions others might not, spotting small but important things that impact how our guests feel. Karin Raguin, who has joined as the new chief human resources officer, is bringing in a lot of knowledge and experience from the luxury goods and fashion industries, helping us to sharpen our focus on the customer.

That’s what true diversity brings – it changes the way we think and the way we work.

We’re working to make this part of our culture. Whether it’s hiring, mentoring, or developing talent, the goal is to create a space where different voices can grow and lead.

Having driven innovation at Silversea, how are you applying that mindset to Kempinski’s properties in the Middle East, be it through wellness initiatives, digital enhancements, or bespoke culinary experiences?

The mindset of innovation already runs deep in the Kempinski DNA. This is a brand that has always looked for ways to elevate the guest experience, from being among the first to combine entertainment with dining, to launching one of the world’s first weekend resorts. The question now is, how do we carry that legacy forward and make it relevant in 2025?

There are a lot of learnings we can take from the cruise industry into the hotel industry. Hotels have the advantage of completely controlling the product because they’re purpose-built destinations, so you can create a unique and seamless guest experience.

From a functional perspective, we need to focus more on the directionality of demand, because nobody ever showed up in port and said, “I want to take a cruise today”, and yet it happens every day in hotels. So, there is room to rethink the hospitality sector’s current business model, manage demand differently, and provide a more solid and memorable product to guests in parallel.

Key trends that are redefining the hospitality sector – any ones you are keenly focused on.

We’re seeing a clear move towards brand consolidation. For years, the industry has focused on rapid expansion and diversifying brand portfolios, but that’s starting to shift. Guests want to know exactly what a brand stands for and the winners will be those who stay focused and build real emotional connections with guests – not just scale. For Kempinski, this means going back to luxury and redefining and strengthening our luxury appeal, using the strength of our European perspective to make us different and unique – the market only pays for difference and uniqueness.

We can also see a meaningful change in how luxury is defined. Today’s travellers aren’t looking for excess or extravagance, they’re looking for experiences that feel authentic and tailored to who they are and what they need at that point in time. This idea of ‘quiet luxury’, where refinement is subtle and intuitive, is becoming increasingly relevant. At the same time, we can see a rise in adventurous travelers who are curious about the destinations they visit. This opens up a tremendous wealth of opportunities for hoteliers and operators to craft more immersive, story-driven experiences.

Wellness is another area that has become non-negotiable. It’s no longer limited to spa offerings. We’re seeing holistic wellbeing presented across different touchpoints throughout the entire stay. Whether it’s sleep, movement, nutrition, or a sense of calm, guests are expecting wellness to be woven into the full experience, and this is a key pillar that we’ll be focusing on at Kempinski. You can expect to see these experiential changes in the Kempinski offering in the coming months.