A seasoned hotelier, Axing brings a wealth of experience to this role with a career spanning over 20 years, beginning in 1992 as Operations Manager at the Scandic Hasselbacken Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden. From there, he joined the Grand Hotel Stockholm in 1994 and held progressive leadership positions ranging from Banqueting Manager to Director of Food & Beverage, culminating in 2004 as General Manager, responsible for the 368 room hotel with 24 meeting spaces and food and beverage divisions. In 2006, he was the Chief Executive Officer of The Grand Group Stockholm where he oversaw the company's brand repositioning, an extensive renovation and refurbishment programme, including two restaurants that were subsequently awarded one and two Michelin stars apiece, and effectively led the negotiations towards a franchise agreement with the InterContinental Hotel Group.
In 2010, he became General Manager at the InterContinental Amstel Amsterdam, The Netherlands, the over century old iconic property, and was responsible for several achievements, including the effective revenue management for both the rooms and the food and beverage product offering, and the introduction of Leading Quality Assurance (LQA) benchmarks and auditing processes.
Axing attended the School of Economics at the University of Uppsala and studied Business Accounting at The Stockholm School of Economics. He also holds several certificates from Cornell University, including Food & Beverage, Marketing in the Hospitality Industry and the General Managers Program.
He lives in Abu Dhabi with his wife Lise-Lott, and replaces Henning Fries who previously held this position since 2010, and now joins the company's regional office in Dubai as Regional Vice President, United Arab Emirates.