JLL (NYSE: JLL) announced the appointment of Nihat Ercan as CEO, Hotels & Hospitality Group, Asia Pacific.

Effective immediately, he will assume responsibility for JLL’s market-leading hotels and hospitality platform in Asia Pacific, with oversight for investment sales, advisory and asset management services, and client management across 14 markets in Asia Pacific.

As CEO, he will also join the firm’s global Hotels & Hospitality Group leadership team and further integrate the Asia Pacific business into JLL’s unmatched international hotel investment and advisory platform.

Mike Batchelor, who previously held the position of Asia Pacific CEO, will assume the role of Chairman of JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group in Asia Pacific.

“The depth, reach and expertise of JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality platform is unmatched globally in the Asia Pacific region. Leveraging on our excellent international footprint, it will be further bolstered under the leadership of Nihat, arguably the region’s most well-connected real estate professional in the hotel and hospitality space. Our ability to serve a broader range of clients and provide the most diverse range of solutions has never been stronger and this achievement would not have been possible without the stewardship of Mike,” says Stuart Crow, CEO, Capital Markets, Asia Pacific, JLL.

Nihat brings over 20 years of experience to his new role and will remain based in Singapore. He joined JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group in 2002 and most recently led its transactions business as Senior Managing Director and Head of Investment Sales, Asia Pacific. Across his career, Nihat has successfully advised on the sale of many of the region’s largest and most high-profile transactions and has personally led the sale of US$10 billion in hotel transactions to-date across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean.

To his expanded role, Nihat brings in-depth experience across all major markets in Asia Pacific and an established global network of clients among investors, operators, and developers active in the region’s hotels market. He joined JLL in the company’s London offices before relocating to Singapore in 2007.

“Asia Pacific’s hotels and hospitality sector will continue to develop rapidly in the coming years supported by extremely favourable macroeconomic factors, enhanced connectivity, and the rise of a more diverse range of business and leisure travellers. As the region’s largest hospitality investment advisor with our more than 110 experts across Asia Pacific, I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved for our clients and I’m truly honoured to lead the next phase of JLL’s storied relationship with this beautiful industry in Asia Pacific,” says Ercan.

Nihat holds a first-class BSc (Hons) degree in Hotel Management from the University of Surrey. Nihat is a registered Real Estate Salesperson with Singapore’s Council for Estate Agencies, a Member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, and a Hospitality Development Council Member of the Urban Land Institute Asia Pacific.

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JLL names Nihat Ercan CEO Hotels & Hospitality Group Asia Pacific