IHG has two new senior leaders for its European properties. Mario Maxeiner has been appointed managing director for Northern Europe, based in the company’s recently opened Frankfurt office and Eric Viale takes up the role of managing director Southern Europe, based in IHG’s Paris office.

Maxeiner will be responsible for driving the sustainable and long-term growth of IHG and the performance of its franchised hotels in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Scandinavia and Poland. Viale will be responsible for driving commercial and operations performance across the Southern Europe franchised hotel estate, including key markets such as France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Both roles report to IHG managing director for Europe, Karin Sheppard.

Currently IHG’s VP of commercial in Greater China, Maxeiner joined IHG in 2015, bringing more than 20 years' of commercial experience in the hospitality industry, including 17 years with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide in regional and global roles. For the past two years, he has led strategic initiatives to drive commercial performance and grow IHG market share in China.