John Murphy has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.
Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. announced today that John Murphy, ("Murph"), will serve as the company's next Chief Executive Officer, taking over for Murray Hennessy who is retiring, but will continue to serve as an advisor to the company. Murphy is a seasoned hospitality executive with more than 30 years of hospitality leadership experience.
Murphy co-founded and served as principal for Triton Hospitality, a hotel sponsorship group created to acquire and asset manage hospitality assets. Before Triton Hospitality, Murphy founded and served as president and CEO for Evolution Hospitality. Launched in January of 2011, Evolution grew rapidly from nine hotels under management to over 100 hotels (75 under management and 25+ under development) and more than $1 billion in managed revenue under Murphy's leadership. Evolution was acquired as a wholly -owned subsidiary of Aimbridge Hospitality in 2015, and Murphy stayed on as its president/CEO through 2019.
A West Coast native, Murphy and his wife of 33 years, Heidi, currently reside in Solana Beach, Calif. surrounded by their three adult children and five grandchildren, including a set of triplets. Murphy and his wife will relocate to Chicago, where Great Wolf Resorts' corporate office is located.