Joanna Kurowska Joins IHG Hotels as New VP Development

DUBAI — IHG Hotels and Resorts has appointed Joanna Kurowska as Vice President, Development for the Middle East and Africa. She brings nearly 15 years of IHG leadership to the role, based in Dubai.

Joanna Kurowska Appointed VP Development Middle East and Africa at IHG Hotels and Resorts

In her new role, Kurowska leads development strategy and owner partnerships across the Middle East and Africa for IHG Hotels and Resorts. Her priority markets include Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, alongside continued growth across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The appointment reflects IHG's deliberate strategy of placing experienced internal leaders in high-priority growth markets. Rather than hiring externally, IHG moved a proven EMEAA market leader into the MEA development role to accelerate owner relationships and deal performance.

Led IHG's Largest EMEAA Market for Four and a Half Years

Joanna Kurowska's most recent IHG role was VP and Managing Director for the UK and Ireland. That market is IHG's largest within EMEAA. She oversaw a portfolio of more than 400 open and pipeline hotels during her tenure.

She also led the integration of Ruby Hotels into IHG's portfolio. That acquisition strengthened the group's brand offering and expanded its European development pipeline. 

A Career at IHG Built Across Finance, Operations and Regional Leadership in Europe

Kurowska joined IHG in 2011 as Director of Finance and Business Support in Warsaw, Poland. She progressed steadily through finance leadership roles across Central Europe, covering luxury and boutique hotel portfolios.

She then held the Director of Operations Finance role for Luxury and Managed Europe. From there, she moved into operations as Director of Operations, Luxury and Managed, Northern Europe, based in Frankfurt. That shift from finance into operations gave her a complete commercial picture of how large hotel portfolios perform across different brand tiers and market conditions.

Before IHG, she was Financial Controller with Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group in Mozambique and Dubrovnik, Croatia. She also worked as Consultant and Project Team Leader at Epicor across Slovakia and Poland. She holds Harvard Business School Online certifications in Sustainable Business Strategy and Negotiation Mastery.

Joanna Kurowska on the Middle East and Africa Opportunity

"Having spent the past few months meeting with owners in Jeddah, Riyadh, Sub-Saharan Africa, Dubai and Cairo, I can confidently say the scale of opportunity unfolding across this region is extraordinary. My focus is on ensuring we bring the right brands, the right deal structures, and strong local expertise to help our owners succeed. The Middle East and Africa are dynamic regions already delivering exceptional performance, and I look forward to working closely with our dedicated teams to drive meaningful, sustainable growth while creating long-term value for owners and the communities we serve."

— Joanna Kurowska, Vice President Development, Middle East and Africa, IHG Hotels and Resorts

About IHG Hotels and Resorts

IHG Hotels and Resorts is one of the world's leading hospitality companies. Its portfolio spans more than 6,300 hotels across over 100 countries under 20 brands including InterContinental, Regent, Six Senses, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and voco. In the Middle East and Africa, IHG operates one of the region's largest hotel portfolios with a significant development pipeline across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Sub-Saharan Africa.

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