Rosewood promotes Friedrich von Schönburg to APAC role
The promotion combines responsibility for Asia Pacific operations with a global operational-excellence remit, effective January 2027.
Sarah Shaw
3 min read
Friedrich von Schönburg takes an expanded Rosewood role
Rosewood Hotel Group has promoted Friedrich von Schönburg to Vice President, Operations, APAC, and Operations Excellence, Global, effective January 2027. The group’s corporate announcement gives him responsibility for Asia Pacific operations alongside a worldwide operational-excellence remit.
He will be based in Hong Kong and report to Chief Operating Officer Anthony Ingham, according to the company-attributed appointment notice on Hospitality Net. Von Schönburg currently serves as Regional Vice President and Managing Director of Rosewood Villa Magna, supporting the group’s hotels in Spain and Italy.
From property leadership to a broader mandate
Von Schönburg’s background combines guest-facing operations, rooms leadership and hotel management. Rosewood’s official biography records his studies at École hôtelière de Lausanne, followed by experience in London at COMO Metropolitan, The Savoy and Rosewood London, where he worked in guest relations.
He subsequently led rooms divisions at The Connaught and Claridge’s. In 2019, he moved to El Palace Barcelona, initially as hotel manager and later as general manager. He returned to Madrid to lead Villa Magna in August 2022 and became Regional Vice President in January 2025.
Rosewood’s October 2022 appointment release described that property remit as encompassing daily operations, guest experience, food and beverage and the hotel’s spa. The new position extends that property-level operating background into a regional and global assignment.
Part of wider corporate appointments
The promotion was reported on 20 October alongside two other corporate appointments. La Tribune de l’Hôtellerie’s dated coverage, which links to the group’s announcement, identifies Gaye Gibson as Vice President, Retail and Partnerships, Global, and Sam Cooper as Vice President, Wellness, Global.
Together, the roles cover operations, retail and partnerships, and wellness. Von Schönburg’s appointment is the one with a stated January 2027 effective date; that timing should not be applied automatically to the other roles.
The leadership question
The combination of regional accountability and a global specialist function is the important operating feature of this promotion. It places responsibility for a defined market alongside work intended to influence how hotels operate across the wider organisation.
For hotel leaders, the practical challenge is making shared standards useful without losing sensitivity to individual properties and destinations. Turning lessons from one hotel or region into approaches that work elsewhere requires collaboration with local management. That is an operational consideration arising from the remit, not evidence of a newly announced restructuring or staffing programme.
Related reading: Hakan Ozel takes a multi-hotel European remit and Andrew Ling leads Hilton focused-service brands in Asia Pacific.
