Studied social education (with a focus on leisure and tourism) and business administration in Fulda and Würzburg, then worked as a scientific assistant at the Würzburg Institute for Tourism and Leisure Research. Has worked at Europa-Park in Rust since 1988, first as press officer, then as press spokesperson, marketing manager, park manager, head of the design and development department of Europa-Park (Mack Solutions), today as representative of the Europa-Park management and since January 2019 general manager of Ru-lantica, the new water world of Europa-Park.
From 2001 to 2018, member and then Chairman of the Tourism Committee of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Berlin, furthermore member of the Supervisory Board of Schwarzwald Tourismus GmbH as well as Chairman of the Economic Advisory Board and since May 2010 member of the Research Advisory Board of the German Economic Institute for Tourism e.V. at the University of Munich. From 2010 to 2019, he was a member of the European Board of IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) and also chaired the Governmental Relations Committee for IAAPA Europe in Brussels.