Heribert has 20 years of experience in the European hotel industry working in hotel financing, asset/investment management and advisory. In his current role as Head of Hotels & Tourism at Erste Group Bank AG in Vienna he is leading a team of finance and industry specialists within the group’s commercial real estate division which structures senior debt for hotel real estate and mixed-use projects in Austria, Germany, Central and Eastern Europe.

Previously, Heribert was a Director with Hamilton Hotel Partners in London (now part of Pyramid Global Hospitality) and Managing Director of Horwath HTL in Austria. Prior to that he worked for Internos Global Investors in London (now Principal Real Estate Europe) where he was responsible for the asset management of the group’s entire hotel portfolio. Heribert holds an MBA from CEU in Budapest and graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a BSc in Travel Industry Management. He also studied at the University of Vienna, NYU Stern School of Business in New York and IREBS (diploma in Sustainable Real Estate Management).

In total across the region, Erste Group manages a commercial real estate portfolio of more than €25 bn with an annual deal flow of more than €3.5 bn. In May 2025, Erste Group announced plans to acquire a controlling stake in Santander Bank Polska, the third-largest bank in Poland. The closing of the transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, is expected around year-end 2025 and would make Poland Erste’s seventh core market in CEE.

Founded in 1819 as the first Austrian savings bank, Erste Group went public in 1997 with a strategy to expand its retail and corporate business into CEE. Since then, Erste Group has grown through numerous acquisitions and organic growth to be the leading financial services provider in the Eastern part of EU in terms of clients (17 mn) and total assets (€361 bn).