Lotte Hotels & Resorts appoints US regional director with Blackstone-BRE background to expand US operation

LOTTE HOTELS & RESORTS actively set out to expand its businesses in the US market by appointing Jim Petrus in June, a former executive of Blackstone-BRE Hotels & Resorts, as regional director of LOTTE HOTELS & RESORTS AMERICAS.

LOTTE HOTELS & RESORTS, which started its US operation by opening LOTTE HOTEL GUAM in 2014, acquired LOTTE NEW YORK PALACE, a luxury hotel in Manhattan, in 2015 and became the first Korean hotel brand to invest in New York. Last year, LOTTE HOTEL SEATTLE, the fourth franchised hotel, was successfully opened, consolidating its status as a global hotel group operating in both the east and west of the American continent.

LOTTE, which runs 32 hotels and resorts including 12 international hotels, recruited Petrus as part of its mid-to-long-term vision, including enhancing brand value through expansion of its US operation. LOTTE GROUP chairman Shin Dong-bin said in an interview with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun last year that the group would strengthen the hotel sector by doubling the number of total rooms to 30,000 over the next five years through M&A [mergers and acquisitions] and additional investments. It is under this vision that the US regional director would lead management of LOTTE’s chain hotels in America.

Petrus is a professional hotel manager who has had 30 years of experience in Blackstone-BRE Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Hyatt Hotels. BRE Hotels & Resorts is a hotel-resort chain run by Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private equity funds. BRE runs about 100 hotels and resorts in the US, including landmark resorts in Hawaii, San Diego and Palm Springs.

Petrus said: “I am honoured to join LOTTE HOTELS & RESORTS. I think the LOTTE HOTEL brand has great potential, and it will be able to provide investors with new growth opportunities.”