About Movenpick Hotels & Resorts Gebenstorf
The Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts was born from UeliPrager’s first restaurant in Zurich. It was 1948, and the genius behind this hotel chain had a fascination for the skimming trait of a gull (Möwe in German). He incorporated the seabird’s speed into the food service of his restaurant. That was the key ingredient that provided this brand a big head-start. Born to an established Swiss Hotelier, Prager wanted to innovate the hospitality business. In his words, his vision was “opening up a window to the garden of pleasure to relish the everyday delight of eating and drinking.” That turned his restaurant into a refuge for the busy city people who want quick but quality grub. In 1973, the brand established a hotel group. Their official launch in Zurich (Zurich Airport & Zurich-Regensdorf) was the birth of their promising worldwide growth.
In the 1980s, they rapidly reached success in their operations in Germany and the Middle East. They were the first company to operate hotels under management contracts which sealed their fate to prominence in the hospitality industry. In 1997, Prince Al-Waleed of Saudi Arabia bought 27% of the chain and increased it to 33% in 2003. The franchise had a swift adjustment to the new century. It thrived continuously, and the AccorHotels’ acquisition of the Mövenpick Holding and Saudi-based Kingdom Group in 2018 brought a current 5.8 million per year visitor count in its 82 hotels scattered across the world.
