 Ola
Ivarsson has been appointed senior vice president - Europe, effective
from March 17, 2008. Accordingly, Ivarsson will become a member of the international
hotel group's executive committee.
Prior to this appointment, Ivarsson held the position
of vice president - Germany, Austria and Switzerland for Hilton Hotels
for five years
|
| Mövenpick Hotel Bur Dubai
has made two new appointments.
Michael Kasch has joined as the new executive
assistant manager. Kasch entered the hospitality industry on the Queen
Elizabeth 2 cruise ship as assistant restaurant manager and then went
on to work in various F&B departments in Japan and Jordan, before
joining JW Marriott in Dubai. Prior to this appointment, Kasch occupied
the position of F&B director in both Accor Hotels World Trade Centre
and the Taj Palace Hotel in Dubai, a post he held for six years
|
| Abdo Kayali has been appointed
director of sales and marketing. Kayali joins with over 18 years of industry
experience mainly in the Middle East and Africa.
The Syrian national completed his formal education
in the UK at Cavendish College, London, before pursing an EMBA from MIC
Management Institute of Canada, after which he worked his way up the sales
ladder from sales executive to director of sales & marketing in various
hotels such as Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
|
 The
Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts has appointed Onno Poortier as
its new president.
A Dutch national, Poortier graduated from the Hotel
School of Lucerne, Switzerland and then pursued the MBA Executive Programme
at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, going on to work with reputed luxury
hotels like Le Beau Rivage Palace Lausanne, the Palace Hotel Gstaad in
Switzerland and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York
|
| Nikhil Vahi has been appointed
vice president of DS Hotels & Resorts, a wholly-owned subsidy of DS
Group (Dharampal Satyapal group). In his capacity, he will spearhead and
drive the group's foray into the hospitality sector. Prior to this appointment,
he served as executive assistant manager of Hotel Intercontinental, Delhi
for three years |
| Swiss-Belhotel International Middle
East has appointed Nils Rothbarth as the pre-opening general manager
of the group's first Dubai property, Gold Swiss-Belhotel Dubai.
Prior to this appointment, he was general manager of
the Garden Court Sandton City hotel in South Africa. German-born Rothbarth
comes with more than 13 years of experience in the hospitality industry,
having held various positions in Germany and South Africa
|
 Dusit
International has appointed Tulaya Pornpiriyakulchai as director
of marketing and communications. Pornpiriyakulchai will be responsible for
all marketing services, advertising and public relations for the company,
as well as building the brand architecture of the company. She has worked
at various establishments such as JSL Company, Siam Piwat Company and, most
recently, Lowe Worldwide international advertising agency |
 Shaun
Campbell, has been appointed general manager of Hyatt Regency Kolkata.
He joins Hyatt Regency, Kolkata from Australia where
he was the area director of marketing for the Pacific Region since September
2002.
A graduate of Old University of Technology in Australia,
Campbell has occupied numerous sales, marketing and operational positions
with Rydges, Mirvac and Marriott hotels in Australia and Asia
|
 Pavan
Kakar has been appointed director of sales & marketing. Prior to
this appointment, Kaskar was operations head - sales with the Metropolitan
Hotel (Nikko) New Delhi for four years, and before that he worked with Carlson
Hotels India in sales and marketing for five years, based out of Delhi and
Bangalore |
 C
P Rathore has been appointed sales manager. Having started his career
with Holiday Inn, Jaipur, Rathore has been with the hospitality industry
for more than six years, occupying various positions in sales and marketing |
 Manisha
Kateja has been appointed assistant reservation manager. A graduate
in Arts and currently pursuing her MBA, Kateja joins with four years of
experience, having worked with Hotel Clarks Amer prior to this appointment.
In her new role, Manisha will look after the reservations & revenue
management process |
 Mranal
Singh has joined as assistant sales manager. Mranal has over three years
of work experience, having previously worked with Hotel Palampur Palace,
Mount Abu and Country Inn & Suites by Carlson, Jaipur. She holds a Masters
degree in Mass Communication from I C G (Rajasthan University) |
 Baldeep
Kapoor has been appointed assistant manager - Sales. Prior to this appointment,
he was with Country Inn and Suites by Carlson. Kapoor did his Bcom from
Rajasthan University and also holds a diploma in Hotel Management |
 Ramandeep
Kaur has joined as assistant manager - sales. Kaur is a graduate from
Rajasthan University and also has a diploma in Aviation and Hospitality
management from Air Hostess Academy, Jaipur |
| Wirachart Watthaphanich
has been appointed as the new director of sales at the dusitD2 chiang mai,
Dusit International's first modern lifestyle hotel.
Wirachart joins with 11 years of experience in sales
and marketing, having worked with an international hotel in Chiang Mai.
Prior to this appointment, Wirachart was assistant director of sales at
the Sheraton Chiang Mai Hotel
|
| Panorama Hospitality has appointed
Tatsushige Yonaha to the post of chief financial officer. Prior to this
appointment, Yonaha served as a director and chief financial officer for
Pacific Golf Group International Holdings.
Yonaha has over 20 years of experience, having
worked for major corporations in the US and Japan. He has held management
positions with PriceWaterhouse and served in senior finance and accounting
positions for the Coca-Cola Company. He holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting
and business management from Brigham Young University
|
| Centara Hotels & Resorts has promoted David
Good from the position of group director - projects & openings to
vice president - operations.
Good has more than 20 years of international hotel
industry experience, having served in the capacity of general manager
of several hotels, before joining Centara Hotels & Resorts, where
he worked for four years as the general manager of the five-star Centara
Grand Beach Resort Samui
|
| Wyndham Hotel group has announced the appointment
of Jeff Farina as vice president of business development for the
Wyndham brand. Farina, who reports to Jeff Dallas, Wyndham Hotel group senior
vice president of development, will be responsible for expanding the company's
relationships with
multiunit, full-service asset owners including
real estate investment trusts, private equity investors, lenders, developers
and financial institutions with hospitality portfolios
|
 Deepak
Behl has been recently appointed as director HR for the InterContinental
Eros, New Delhi. Behl has 14 years of experience with companies like BPL,
The Oberoi group of hotels and Gap Inc. He is actively associated with Students'
Bright Future Organisation, an NGO working for underprivileged children
apart from various hospitality institutions. Behl is a keen learner and
a voracious reader of management and psychology books |
|
 Lopa
Chakraborty has been appointed as the executive housekeeper of the
InterContinental Eros, New Delhi. After completing her Diploma in Hotel
Management from Institute of Advanced Management, Kolkata, she joined
the The Park group of hotels in Kolkata as a supervisor. Her last posting
before joining Intercontinental Eros was with the Radisson MBD, Noida
as executive housekeeper for a period of three years
|
 Issam
Nizam has recently been appointed as rooms division manager at Metropolitan
Hotel Dubai.With a wealth of experience in operations management, budget
development, staffing and cost control, Nizam will be responsible for spearheading
the entire operation of the rooms division, including all front office and
back office departments involved. |
| Metropolitan Hotel has also appointed Sonja Trapmann
as public relations manager. She will be responsible for media relations,
marketing and internal communication, working close together with the F&B
and sales teams. Trapmann has gained wide range experience in the field
of public relations, corporate communications, marketing, branding and event
management over the last two years in Dubai and before that in Germany.
|
| Roujxhing Vajifdar has joined the Metropolitan
Hotel Dubai as assistant director of sales. She will be co-heading the sales
team in Metropolitan, contributing with a track record of skills in formulating
sales and marketing strategies. Vajifdar has held a number of executive
sales positions in various reputed hotels in India before. Her last position
was associate head of sales in The Leela Palace Kempinski in Bangalore |
| Accor has appointed Michael Issenberg as chairman
and chief operating officer of Accor Asia Pacific and as a member of the
Accor Executive Committee. Issenberg will take over from David Baffsky,
who has served as chairman of Accor Asia Pacific since 1992.
Issenberg graduated from Cornell University, NY
and has worked for Westin Hotels & Resorts, Laventhol and Horwath
& Horwath Services Pty in San Francisco, CA and Sydney then for Merlin
Properties
|
| After more than 15 years with Accor, David Baffsky
is stepping down from an active executive chairman role and will now act
as honorary chairman of Accor Asia Pacific. Baffsky was instrumental in
establishing Accor Asia Pacific as a leading hospitality group in the region,
building the network to its current level of 325 hotels in just 15 years
|
| Vijay Dandapani, chief operating officer of
Apple Core Hotels, has been appointed chairman of the board of directors
for the 2008 International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show (IH/M&RS).
Dandapani's proven leadership skills will guide the nine-member board as
it develops the 93rd annual IH/M&RS, taking place November 8-11, 2008,
at New York City's Jacob K Javits Convention Centre. In addition, Pedro
Mandoki, president and CEO of Mandoki Hospitality Group (Gulf Shores,
AL), has been named to the 2008 IH/M&RS board of directors.
Since August 1993, Dandapani has been instrumental in
the growth and development of Apple Core Hotels, including acquisitions,
six hotel renovations and the implementation of state-of-the-art computer
systems. He also has held numerous key operational positions in hotels
abroad. Mandoki, a 40-year lodging industry veteran, is owner and president
of Mandoki Hospitality group. He is a former chairman of the American
Hotel & Lodging Association, also having served as chairman of the
Fund Development Committee of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational
Foundation (AH&LEF)
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