Dolce Promotes Paul C. van Wijk to SVPO North America and Xavier Louyot as MPRD, Europe

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. October 14, 2008

MONTVALE, NJ, July 18, 2008. On the heels of announcing its new GDS code (DX), Dolce International, a global hospitality company, takes yet another stride to further position itself as the preeminent purveyor of elevated meetings and leisure experiences as it announces the promotion of Paul C. van Wijk to Senior Vice President of Operations, North America and the appointment of Xavier Louyot as Marketing and Public Relations Director for its Europe operations.

With Dolce since May 2006, Paul Van Wijk has most recently served as the opening Managing Director of Dolce La Hulpe, Belgium's first hotel, resort & conference destination where he successfully led the property to company-wide prominence as Dolce's "Venue of the Year" by M.P.I.. in 2007.

In his new post, van Wijk will be responsible for the operations and financial performance of Dolce's one-of-a kind properties in North America such as San Jose's historic Hayes Mansion, Michigan's the H Hotel and Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree. His duties will include maintaining strong relationships with property owners and investment partners, overseeing and mentoring the company's regional vice presidents, providing direction for the development and implementation of Dolce's corporate and brand standards for North America, and ensuring that the company achieves the goals established in its annual plans.

Originally from The Netherlands, van Wijk's nearly 35 year career in the industry has included tenure at hospitality companies such as Hilton Hotels, Four Seasons, and Warwick International Hotels. Wijk received an economics degree from University of Louvain in Belgium and has continued extensive coursework at Cornell University in Amsterdam, Holland and the Graduate School of Business in Cape Town, South Africa. Active in several hotel and culinary industry organizations, Wijk speaks Dutch, English, French and German.

New to the Dolce International management team is Xavier Louyot who comes to the company from Le M'eridien where he served for seven years as Europe's Marketing and Communication Manager and played a major role in integrating the brand's marketing and PR European organizations when acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

As the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Dolce International in Europe, Louyot brings ten years of hospitality experience in both external and internal communications having also previously worked for organizations such as Groupe Lucien Barri`ere. Based in Paris, Louyot has a Master of Science in Direct Marketing and an Associate Degree in Hospitality Management and Marketing. Louyot specializes in designing, developing, and implementing brand and operational strategies, bringing great potency to the brand and measurably supporting business objectives.

In his new post, Louyot will work closely with Dolce's corporate office to implement the company's global marketing strategy in Europe and will coordinate the efforts of the company's various European public relations and marketing entities at the six Dolce properties in Europe including Dolce Sitges in Sitges, Spain; Dolce Bad-Nauheim in Frankfurt, Germany; and Dolce Fr'egate in Provence, France.

"The appointments of Paul van Wijk and Xavier Louyot are indicative of the leadership and strength of Dolce International's European operations. Paul's impressive leadership at the property level and Xavier's proven record of directing marketing efforts that are strategic and measureable, will undoubtedly play a large role in the exponential growth of our business, the strengthening of our brand and renown of our service culture as we continue to innovate in both the meetings and leisure markets," says Andy Dolce, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Dolce International.