Avoya Travel’s leadership changes lead this week’s news on executive appointments in the travel industry.
This week Avoya promoted Jeff and Michael Anderson to co-presidents as part of a number of executive changes that are part of the company’s long-term growth plan. Brad Anderson was promoted to co-founder, joining Van Anderson in the role, while Ashley Hunter was promoted to senior vice president of strategic operations and partnerships. The company also made a number of promotions in other departments, including Steve Hirshan to senior vice president of sales, Viola De Velasco to vice president of sales operations and Daniel Rego to vice president of business intelligence, among others.
In destination news, this week the Grenada Tourism Authority named Kevin Thompson its sales executive for the U.S. market. He will support the GTA’s in-market director of sales, Christine Noel-Horsford, on sales initiatives and niche market development throughout the United States. Thompson has more than 15 years of sales experience.
In other leadership news, this week Ian Wheeler joined the board of attraction pass business Leisure Pass Group as the company’s new non-executive chairman. Wheeler will help steer the group’s investment in continued growth, the company said, with a particular focus on product innovation and expanding the company’s pass portfolio into new locations. Wheeler currently serves as non-executive chairman of air fare analytics provider Infare, president of online travel content aggregator Travelfusion and non-executive director of the Travel Counsellors global network of self-employed travel agents.
In hotel news, this week Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts appointed five new general managers and one new hotel manager to drive the company’s growth in Egypt. On April 1, Hisham Mohamed Saied became general manager of the Steigenberger Hotel El Lessan in Ras El Bar and Wael Aboelseoud became general manager at the Steigenberger Cecil Hotel in Alexandria, while, at the beginning of the year, Ashraf Naguib was named the director of the Steigenberger Resort Achti. In January, Gunnar Wassong moved from the Steigenberger Golf Resort in El Gouna to the Steigenberger Aqua Magic, with Hisham Tawfik stepping into his old general manager role. Also in January, Ali Mansi was named hotel manager of the Steigenberger Pyramids in Cairo.
Other individual properties also made new leadership appointments this week:
- Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel named Kristin Duncan general manager.
- Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas appointed Rebecca Soloff as director of sales and marketing at the upcoming Six Senses New York, which will be the brand’s first North American property.
- AC Hotel Los Angeles South Bay, which will open soon in El Segundo, California, named Ahmed Elassy as its general manager.
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