Marcus Smola is the CEO of BWH Hotels Central Europe GmbH since 2008. The company based in Eschborn / Germany supports around 230 individually managed hotels of the brands Best Western Hotels & Resorts, WorldHotels and Sure Hotels in the ten European countries Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. Since 2018, Smola has also served as a board member of DEHAG Hospitality Group AG, the parent company of the hotel group. Since then, he has led BWH Hotels Central Europe GmbH together with the second CEO Carmen Dücker as a leadership duo.

When Marcus Smola joined the formerly Best Western Hotels Deutschland GmbH in 1999, he was initially head of the hotel service and training institute departments and, since 2001, Deputy CEO of Best Western Hotels Deutschland GmbH. Smola was then appointed CEO in April 2008 and has since shaped the face of the hotel group in Germany. Prior to joining Best Western, Smola held various management positions at Steigenberger Hotels AG, Frankfurt, for many years. His journey in the hotel industry began in 1987 with an apprenticeship as a hotel specialist at the Canadian Pacific Frankfurt Plaza, now the Marriott Hotel in Frankfurt.

Since 2018, Marcus Smola has been a member of the board of the German Hotel Association (IHA). Smola is a top-level speaker at events and conferences in the hotel industry. He is married and has two children.