hospitalitystyle.com

(July 2009) posted on Thu Jul 30, 2009 EDT

The two high-profile hotel companies have made changes/additions in their executive suites. Carlson announced that president and ceo Hubert Joly will now also personally lead the company's hotel unit, replacing Jay Witzel, who will continue in a consulting role.

In addition, the company has appointed Thorsten Kirschke chief operating officer of Carlson Hotels - Americas. Kirschke comes to Carlson from The Rezidor Hotel Group, where he was executive vice president and chief operating officer. Carlson owns a majority stake in Brussels-based Rezidor.

In a statement, the company said the moves are designed to "support Carlson's strategy to revitalize the Radisson brand in the Americas, and continue to grow its global portfolio of hotel brands."

Meantime, Hilton Hotels Corp. - which is moving its headquarters to near Washington, D.C. later this year - has hired Jonas Neihardt as senior vice president of government affairs. Neihardt brings nearly 20 years of experience in public policy and corporate government relations to his new role at Hilton.

He most recently worked for Qualcomm, where he managed advocacy campaigns to ensure fair and open market access for U.S. technologies globally and was instrumental in enacting legislation for the Digital Television Transition. Neihardt joined the federal government as a presidential management intern in 1989, and then served at the White House Budget Office during the George H.W. Bush and Clinton Administrations.

"Jonas will be out front, representing Hilton's position on a variety of key social and industry initiatives, and will ensure that the company has a credible presence among our government leaders," said Richard Lucas, Hilton's executive vice president and general counsel. "As we relocate our global headquarters to the Washington, D.C., area, this is a major initiative for our company."