Modern trends in resort design

Muriel Muirden - Moderator

Director of Operations & Development

The Wee Hotel Company

Prior to joining the Scotland-based boutique hotel firm The Wee Hotel Company, Muriel headed up Strategy for hospitality design firm WATG. She has 25 years of experience in the tourism and leisure industries through operational, development and consultancy roles.
Her particular areas of expertise are in the fields of development strategy, concept evaluation and
business planning for tourism, hotel and resort real estate enterprises, advising both public and private sector clients in Europe, Africa, Middle East, Central Asia, India and China. She founded and co-chaired ULI’s European Resort and Hotel Council.

Ricardo Moreira

Co-founder & Managing Director

XCO2

Ricardo is responsible for XCO2’s overall management and strategic business development, and also leads some of its key international hospitality projects. With both architectural and engineering backgrounds, and over 20 years of experience in the industry, he is a firm believer in collaboration between disciplines and design integration as major enablers for delivering robust sustainability solutions.

Ricardo holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Design and Engineering from University College London, a BS in Hospitality Management from the University of Wales, and a BS in Hospitality and Tourism Management from the Glion Institute of Higher Education.

John Goldwyn

Senior VP & Director of Planning + Landscape

WATG, London

John leads the planning and landscape design studio in WATG’s London office. His designs are responsive to each individual site location, constantly looking for stories in the land. He is committed to finding sustainable solutions for clients that balance economic, social and environmental factors. John believes that the commercial success of any project is directly related to its design content.

John’s experience with WATG spans more than seventeen years and encompasses master planning efforts throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Recent projects include the planning and detailed design of numerous hotels and resorts in Turkey; strategic planning for a major new city on the Caspian Coast of Russia, and a 1,000-hectare mountain destination golf and ski resort in Kazakhstan.

Josh Littman

VP of Development

SH Hotels & Resorts

Josh Littman is the VP of Development for SH Hotels & Resorts, responsible for growing the company’s Baccarat Hotels, 1 Hotels and Treehouse Hotels brands throughout the EMEA region. With over 20 years of experience across the hospitality space, from operations to sales & marketing and real estate development, Josh has worked with a variety of international groups, including most recently as Head of Luxury Development in Europe for InterContinental Hotels Group, as VP of Development (EMEA) for Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos and in roles with Kerzner International, PKF Consulting and Mandarin Oriental.