Genting Hong Kong Limited has appointed Colin Au as the group President of the company with immediate effect and Kent Zhu as President of Genting Cruise Lines, effective May this year. Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay (Tan Sri Lim), Chairman of the Board, continues to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company.
Colin Au joined the Genting Group 38 years ago and served in different positions within the Group in Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Miami and Germany. Au was the founding President and CEO of Genting Hong Kong in 1993, and introduced cruising in Asia. Au graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Birmingham, U.K. in 1972 and a MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1974.
“With the quantum leap in size of the company, we are pleased to appoint Mr. Au as the Group President of Genting Hong Kong to provide the leadership moving forward. He will focus his attention on Genting Cruise Lines, MV Werften, the German shipyard group and other assets of the company,” says Tan Sri Lim.
Genting Cruise Lines is a new division of Genting Hong Kong comprising of three cruise brands, Star Cruises – “The Most Popular Cruise Line in Asia”, Dream Cruises – “Asia’s Luxury Cruise Line” and Crystal Cruises “The World’s Most Awarded Luxury Cruise Line”. Genting Cruise Lines will leverage on the 50-year old “Genting” name, which is well recognized in China and other parts of Asia, and recently strengthened by the International exposure of “Genting Resorts Secret Garden in Chongli, Hebei Province near Beijing, which is the main venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
“I look forward to providing leadership in this phase of rapid asset growth and overseeing MV Werften, which will provide the company with the competitive edge in building new large cruise ships, with the first 200,000 gross ton Global Class ships by 2020, without relying on the limited number of European cruise shipyards which currently have a 10-year order-book, a historic high,” says Colin Au.
Kent Zhu was born in Jiangsu, China and has over 30 years of international hospitality experience with two global Asian luxury hotel groups, Shangri-La International Management and Wanda Hotels and Resorts, each of which have about a hundred properties and over 30,000 hotel rooms. Zhu will be leaving his Executive Vice President position with Wanda Hotels & Resorts to join the Company as the President of Genting Cruise Lines, based in Hong Kong. Zhu has 18 years’ experience with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts with his last position as their Chief Marketing Officer, based in their global headquarters in Hong Kong. Mr. Zhu graduated from the Beijing No. 2 Foreign Language Institute with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985.
“We are delighted to have Kent Zhu join us as the President of Genting Cruise Lines. With his experience in China, Kent will immediately focus on developing a nation-wide distribution network in China with strong travel partners to fill our cruise ships in Asia and elsewhere,” says Hui Lim, Executive Director of Genting Group.
“With my experience in two very successful international luxury hotel companies originating from Asia, I want to add value to the competitiveness and long term growth of Genting Cruise Lines, which has the largest number of available cabin capacity in Asia. I will like to strengthen the relationship with our industry partners, develop a clear distribution strategy and infrastructure and align the brand standards to the changing trends of our customer profile to deliver a unique and memorable customer experience,” says Kent Zhu, President of Genting Cruise Lines.
