/ Jens Zimmer Christensen (Denmark) elected President of HOTREC

Jens Zimmer Christensen (Denmark) elected President of HOTREC

Krakow, HOTREC 77th General Assembly, 18 October 2018 – HOTREC, the umbrella association of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafés in Europe, elected today its new President and Executive Committee (ExCom) for a two years mandate, starting on 1 January 2019. “The goal of the newly elected ExCom will be to foster innovation and to promote investment among the 1.9 million enterprises of the sector, promoting smarter and better regulation at the core of the new EU mandate. 2019 will be marked by European elections and a renewal of the European Parliament and Commission. It will be our task to convince policy-makers to make the 2019-2024 EU legislature a success for tourism by unlocking SMEs and microenterprises’ growth potential and by fostering entrepreneurship” commented Mr. Zimmer Christensen. The newly elected President and Executive Committee will be representing a highly competent association, composed of 44 National Associations, located in 30 European countries, which offers a unique best practice and knowledge sharing platform. Mr. Zimmer Christensen added: “I thank the outgoing President, Ms. Susanne Kraus-Winkler for her total of 15 years on Excom as well as the outgoing Executive Committee Members among them the Vice President Ákos Niklai and the Treasure Marinus Cordesius for their work and in making HOTREC even more visible and strong.  I also look forward to working with the CEO and a professional and effective HOTREC team”. Mr Jens Zimmer Christensen is a member of HOTREC Executive Committee since 2016 and Chairman of HORESTA Denmark since 2009, the trade association representing the Danish hospitality sector. He comes with a vast experience in tourism and hospitality, among others as Owner and Manager of Hotel Maritime in Copenhagen and as member of the Executive Board of the Confederation of Danish Employers. The new HOTREC Executive Committee is now composed of President Jens Zimmer Christensen (Denmark), Vice-President Marc Van Muylders (Belgium), Treasurer Adrian Cummins (Ireland), Julian Bystrzanowski (Poland), Ramón Estalella (Spain); Antonio Flamini (Italy); Samuel Lacombe (France); Markus Luthe (Germany); Václav Starek (Czech Republic), Morten Thorvaldsen (Norway) and Alexandros Vassilicos (Greece). For further information: www.hotrec.eu PRESS CONTACT: Guillaume Brouillet, [email protected], + 32 (0)2 513 63 23 HOTREC represents the hotel, restaurant and café industry at European level. The sector counts in total around 1.9 million businesses, being 99,5% small and medium sized enterprises (90% are micro enterprises, i.e. employing less than 10 people). These businesses make up some 60% of value added. The industry provides some 11.1 million jobs in the EU alone. Together with the other tourism industries, the sector is the 3rd largest industry in Europe. HOTREC brings together 43 national associations representing the interest of this industry in 30 different European countries.