Our People

Michael Henssler oversees operations for Kempinski hotels in Asia and serves as General Manager for Key International Hotels Management Co. Ltd., a joint venture between Kempinski and the Beijing Tourism Group.

A true hotelier, Michael is experienced across every aspect of hotel operations. He joined Kempinski in 1994 and has since served in a diverse array of leadership roles throughout his career, previously as General Manager for the prestigious Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneva, and in pioneering hotel openings in Dubai and Kuwait.

More recently, Michael became President of Kempinski Hotels China, where he successfully opened 12 hotels and has grown the portfolio to 29 hotels since 2010 in key destinations across China and Southeast Asia. His accomplishments include launching Sunrise Kempinski Hotel Yanqi Lake, The Capitol Kempinski Singapore, Apurva Kempinski Bali and NUO – China’s first “homegrown” luxury hotel brand and its flagship hotel in Beijing. He also secured two additional properties for the group, one of which will be a Qing Dynasty inspired hotel located on-site in Universal Beijing Resort due to open in 2021.

Michael holds an MBA from NEOMA Business School in Reims and is a graduate of the prestigious École hôtelière de Lausanne in Switzerland.

Michael says: “Our management team at the regional office reflects the various departments in a hotel to be able to provide guidance and continuous support on the field. The team of senior managers is a multinational mix with great cooperation between Chinese and foreign staff. On a day to day basis, we profit from each other through different skills and the diversity of cultural backgrounds”.