Meet the Chair – David Mansfield

Managing Director, The Ascott Limited – Australia & New Zealand

Boasting over 35 years of experience in hospitality and asset management, David joined Quest as the Chief Operations Officer in July 2019 before being promoted to Managing Director of The Ascott Limited for Australia and New Zealand in February 2021.

David is responsible for overseeing Ascott’s managed operations throughout Australia and New Zealand, in addition to ongoing global leadership of business format franchise brand, Quest Apartment Hotels, which has over 170+ hotels throughout Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

The Ascott Limited (Ascott) is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international lodging owner-operators. Ascott’s portfolio spans over 200 cities across over 30 countries in Asia Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the USA.

Ascott has more than 90,000 operating units and over 65,000 units under development, making a total of more than 150,000 units in over 900 properties.

The company’s serviced apartment, coliving and hotel brands include Ascott The Residence, The Crest Collection, Somerset, Quest, Citadines, lyf, Préférence, Vertu, Harris, Citadines Connect, Fox, Yello, Fox Lite and POP!. 

Previously, David worked in senior corporate and strategic management positions in various locations across Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific. He held senior leadership roles with InterContinental Hotels Group and Hyatt International, where he gained extensive experience in hotel and resort operations.

  • These roles provided David with a broad range of experiences, and today his expertise spans operational capability and excellence, asset management, wealth creation, strategic alignment, concept development and cultural change.

David graduated from the University of Newcastle, Australia, with an MBA and is certified in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management from Cornell University and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

He is currently the Chair for Accommodation Australia and an Advisory Board member for the Tourism and Transport Forum (Australia).

Awards

  • Australasian Hotelier of the Year, HM awards – Hotel and Accommodation Excellence 2022
  • Datoship awarded by the HRH Sultan of the State of Pahang, Malaysia, 2010
  • Multiple Hyatt property awards for performance, service, and industrial accolades

Industry Associations and Boards

  • Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) – Victoria
  • Accommodation Australia
  • Tourism and Transport Forum – Australia