This week in executive appointments in the travel industry, a number of tour operators and major hotels made new sales appointments.
Keytours Vacations reports that Paul Somogyi has joined the company as director of sales and business development. Previously, he had served as global sales – director of sales at Marriott. At 6’6”, he is also known as “Tall Paul,” and he will be available at paul@keytours.com.
In destination news, this week the Bermuda Tourism Authority named Simon Boden its new director of sales and business development following the departure of Laura Saeger, who left in June to pursue a new career opportunity. A native of Bermuda, Boden has been with Fairmont since 1999, starting with Bermuda’s Hamilton Princess, before moving to properties in Hawaii and Pennsylvania. He also spent seven years with the Fairmont Southampton on Bermuda’s south shore. He will be based in New York City.
In hotel news, this week Omni Hotels & Resorts named two new executives to leadership roles: Matthew Adams as EVP of operations and Andrew Rubinacci as SVP of revenue management and global distribution. Before Omni, Adams spent his career at Hyatt, climbing the ranks from post-graduate trainee to general manager and area vice president. Rubinacci hails from Intercontinental Hotels Group, where he served as SVP of distribution and revenue management strategy.
Rosewood Hotel Group made four appointments of its own this week to support the company’s ongoing expansion in Asia. The company named Joe Chang CFO; Hakan Akgun VP for engineering, sustainability and security; Marc Hanl regional vice president, in addition to his current role as managing director of Rosewood Beijing; and Andrew Turner as regional vice president, in addition to his current role as managing director of Rosewood Phuket.
A number of individual hotels also made key leadership appointments this week:
- The Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski Dominica, set to open in 2019, named Tracey Fentem its director of sales and marketing. Fentem will join previously announced general manager Michael Schoonewagen.
- The Hotel de Coronado on San Diego’s Coronado Island hired Lauren Adams as director of national accounts.
- Rosewood CordeValle in San Martin, California, named Marline Avelar its director of sales and marketing.
- Motif Seattle, A Destination Hotel, named Steve Sasso its general manager.
- The Sarasota Modern, which is debuting later this year as part of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio in Sarasota, Florida, named John Markunas its general manager and Paul Romero its director of sales and marketing.
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