TRX Inc. has appointed Scott Gillespie to vice president of strategic initiatives, focusing on major new business opportunities in travel data for the company.
TRX Inc. has appointed Scott Gillespie to vice president of strategic initiatives, focusing on major new business opportunities in travel data for the company. Gillespie will be leading the market research and business modeling efforts for the TRX data-related products. He is being joined in his outreach efforts by Susan Hopley, executive vice president for emerging markets, and Greeley Koch, vice president for corporate solutions. Gillespie is being succeeded in his previous post as senior director of TRX Travel Analytics by Kristie Beck, who joined the Analytics group in July 2007. She previously served in procurement roles at American Airlines, and at Aeroexchange, an airline IT and sourcing consultancy.
Radius has expanded its multinational sales team with the promotion of Chris Weedon to director for multinational corporate sales for Europe. Weedon, who will report directly to Kieran Hartwell, vice president of multinational corporate sales, joined Radius in mid-2007 and has been responsible re-engineering the RFP process as multinational bid manager. He will supervise this function as part of his new role. Additionally, Weedon is serving on the Radius task force that is shaping the company's corporate social responsibility position. Weedon has been heavily involved in the travel industry over the last three years, including a position at HARP wallen where he headed up a corporate travel department.
GetThere has reassigned seven-year veteran Annette Forbes-Marsden to oversee the company's sales and marketing efforts across Europe from her base in London. Forbes-Marsden has hired Guy Snelgar to focus on UK sales; Dario Bongiovanni has been named business development manager for Italy. A dedicated sales position for France will be added later this quarter. Snelgar recently served as online business development manager for Portman Travel, a UK-based corporate travel agency. Bongiovanni, who worked for Sabre previously, is based in Milan.
Red Lion Hotels has announced that Arthur Coffey, president and CEO, has retired. He has been replaced by Anupam Narayan, who was promoted from his position of executive vice president and chief financial officer. Narayan also has been appointed to the company's board of directors. Coffey joined the company in 1981, when it was known as Goodale & Barbieri. In April 2003, he was named president and CEO.
South African Airways (SAA) has named Paula Newton director of sales for the US's Western region, based in the Los Angeles area; and Katherine Jochen director of sales for the Northeast, based in the New York City metropolitan area. Newton most recently was SAA's director of marketing events and promotions, responsible for negotiating and coordinating the carrier's participation in many corporate and community events and enhancing the airline's brand position in North America. Prior to joining SAA, Jochen was market development manager in the US for Ethiopian Airlines.
StarCite is under the leadership of its COO, Keith Forshew, until the company selects a permanent successor to Michael Boult, who resigned last month from his position as president and CEO. Boult, who leaves after spending a promised three years with StarCite, is also leaving the travel industry and will work with a wine retailer. He will, however, continue as a member of StarCite's board of directors.
American Express Business Travel has appointed Kaveh Atrak as vice president, general manager for Central Europe and Nordic regions. The appointment adds Central Europe to his areas of responsibility after the recent resignation of Marc Hildebrand.
Omni Hotels has appointed Tom Walker vice president of revenue management. He previously served as executive vice president of Rainmaker Group, Omni's partner in CRM management systems.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced new roles for company veterans Tom Murray and Jim Anhut. Murray, chief operating officer for the Americas region, will increase his responsibilities to include all business development activity in the region relating to management and equity participation in hotels. Murray will manage the business development for the Inter Continental and Crowne Plaza brands. He will also direct the application of capital to ensure distribution of the Hotel Indigo brand in strategic markets, as part of the brand's expansion plans in North America. Anhut has been promoted to the position of senior vice president, franchise development.
IHG has also promoted Ronen Nissenbaum to regional vice president of operations, responsible for overseeing and driving the performance of 14 hotels in the North American portfolio. He will be based in Atlanta and report to Lew Fader, vice president operations. Nissenbaum began his career with IHG in 1996 as hotel manager at the InterContinental Paris, then became the general manager in Berlin and Tel Aviv. After transferring to Atlanta to open the InterContinental Buckhead there, he became IHG's regional vice president of operations for the South East Region.
Travelport has appointed Jon Hall chief marketing officer. He joins Travelport from Mediaedge:cia (MEC), a media communications company that he joined in June 2007 as managing partner with specific responsibility for developing business in the technology and business-to-business sectors. MEC is a founding partner of GroupM, WPP's media investment management group.
Avis Budget Group has named Kaye Ceille senior vice president of worldwide travel partnership sales. Ceille, who leads the company's efforts to drive growth in domestic travel distribution, now also assumes responsibility for expanding Avis Budget's portfolio of international travel and partnerships clients. In 2003, Ceille joined Avis Budget Group as vice president of travel industry relations, where she was subsequently promoted to vice president.
Marriott International has named Adam Sherer vice president and Barbara Shuster senior director of marketing for its ExecuStay temporary-housing brand. Sherer joined Marriott International in 1996. Since that time, he has led efforts in new product development, brand acquisitions, market conversions, operations, franchise services and the development of Marriott's temporary housing franchise program. Shuster joined Marriott in 1998 and has held positions with Avendra, global sales, Marriott Rewards and Marriott Vacation Clubs International. In her various roles, she has lead efforts in sales, training, marketing, product and program development, brand awareness and demand generation.
Marriott has also announced that Fred Miller, the company's vice president of travel industry relations, will retire on May 2. Miller, who joined Marriott in 1997 as part of the company's acquisition of the Renaissance Hotel Group, is winding up 32 years of service to Renaissance and Marriott. While at Marriott, Miller led the development of automation between tour wholesalers and hotel suppliers, and was responsible for the creation of Marriott's Hotel Excellence travel agent training program and its commission program.
Hilton Hotels Corporation has hired Steven Goldman, previously president and CEO of Sunstone Hotel Investors, as president of global development and real estate as part of its new senior leadership team under Christopher J. Nassetta, named the corporation's new president and CEO at the end of the third quarter, 2007. Ian Carter, the current CEO of Hilton International, will assume the newly-created role of president of global operations. Mark Wang, the current head of Hilton Grand Vacations, Asia, has been promoted to president of Hilton Grand Vacations and will oversee all global timeshare operations. In addition to being chief information officer, Tim Harvey will now oversee shared-brand services.
No effective dates for the assignments of Goldman, Carter and Wang have been disclosed but Hilton has announced that Tom Keltner, current CEO of the Americas and global brands, will resign from his position in June. His successor has not been named. Keltner had been Hilton's president of brand performance and franchise development before being named CEO of the Americas and global brands last March.