1st June 2010 - Corinthia Hotels announces the appointment of Ken Dittrich as the new General Manager of the newly extended and refurbished five-star Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg in Russia.

The Corinthia Hotel is operated by CHI Hotels & Resorts, a multi brand operator licensed to manage Corinthia, Wyndham and Ramada Plaza Brands in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Ken joins Corinthia from Sol Melia, where his most recent appointment was that of area vice-president for Sol Melia and managing director at the Gran Melia Caracas Venezuela. Prior to that, he was managing director of the Sol Melia Paradisus Riviera Hotel Cancun Mexico and area vice-president Sol Melia and managing director of the Gran Melia Golf Resort in Puerto Rico. Before his career with Sol Melia, Ken was general manager of the five-star luxurious convention and resort hotel the Blue Tree Park Angra Dos Reis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and general manager of the Athenee Palace Select Hotel in Djerba, Tunisia. In the United States of America Ken was director of operations for Regent International Hotels based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and also spent some of his earlier career with Regent at the Regent Singapore, with the Westin Group in Panama City and Korea and with Intercontinental Hotels in Germany and France.

Ken graduated in hotel management from the Hotel and Catering School in Dusseldorf, Germany. He also obtained a hotel administration degree from the Business School in Heidelberg, Germany. He is married with two children and speaks German, English, Spanish and French.

�I am delighted to welcome Ken Dittrich to the team at Corinthia Hotels�, said Tony Potter, CEO and managing director of the hotel�s operator CHI Hotels & Resorts �His extensive background in corporate, convention and leisure markets in the five-star deluxe hotel sector is most appropriate for the successful development of the newly restructured and refurbished Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg, which is now recognised as the leading meetings, incentives, conferences and events hotel in this superb city�.

Following extensive refurbishment and restructuring work, the 400-room luxury Corinthia Hotel St Petersburg was re-launched with more bedrooms and more facilities under one roof than any other luxury hotel in the City.  The Hotel, together with the vacant grand properties on either side of it on the city�s main boulevard, was acquired as an operating hotel in 2002 by International Hotel Investments plc (IHI), a public company floated on the Malta Stock Exchange. Over the past two years, IHI has invested a further Euro 100 million, including the total refurbishment of the original hotel, complete with a brand new and larger grand foyer, a new restaurant and new bars. The adjoining buildings on either side of the hotel were demolished and carefully reconstructed with ornate facades matching their original splendour, rebuilt using traditional techniques. The hotel is operated by CHI Hotels & Resorts.

About Corinthia Hotels
Corinthia Hotels is an internationally acclaimed Brand of luxury hotels in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Libya, Malta, Portugal and Russia. Founded by the Pisani family of Malta in the 1960s, the Corinthia brand stands in that proud tradition of Mediterranean hospitality and its signature services communicate the �Warm smiles, Inspired Flavours and Pleasant Surprises� of its Maltese heritage. All Corinthia hotels feature state-of-the art conference areas, extensive leisure and business traveller facilities, and are each renowned for their uniqueness of character. Corinthia Hotels� portfolio includes the award-winning Corinthia Hotel Budapest in Hungary, the Corinthia Hotel Prague in the Czech Republic and the Corinthia Palace Hotel & Spa in Malta. The portfolio also features the splendid Corinthia Hotel St George�s Bay in Malta, the superior five-star Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli, Libya and the modern Corinthia Hotel Lisbon in Portugal. The latest addition to the Corinthia Hotels portfolio is the Corinthia Hotel, Whitehall Place, London � due to open at the end of 2010. 

About CHI Hotels & Resorts (CHI)
Based in Malta, CHI Hotels & Resorts is a leading hands-on hotel management company that provides the full range of technical assistance and management services to hotel owners worldwide. CHI is the exclusive operator and developer for the luxury Corinthia Hotels brand as well as the Wyndham and Ramada Plaza brands in Europe, Africa and The Middle East. CHI draws on a heritage of over 48 years in delivering high quality services to hotel guests and an optimum rate of return to owners and investors in diverse business environments. CHI�s experience extends to management of luxury and upscale properties in city and resort locations and products ranging from boutique to conference and Spa hotels. CHI is owned by International Hotel Investments plc (70%) and the Wyndham Hotel Group (30%).