Randy Russell, whose nickname in the travel industry as "Randymon," has worked as senior vice president and chief romance officer for Couples Resorts, Jamaica's four-resort all-inclusive chain, for the past 12 years and is widely identified with the company in travel trade circles.
Effective Jan. 6, however, Russell is moving to Unique Vacations Inc., the worldwide representative for his much larger competitor, Sandals Resorts, where he has been named senior vice president-social commerce. Couples had not named a replacement for Russell at press time.
Russell has developed a reputation as a top hotel marketing executive at Couples, where he helped lead the company through several consecutive years of record occupancies and revenue growth. Now he will be tasked with using social media technology to communicate the Sandals experience to consumers.
"No one is better at getting to the essence of relationships and building on those alliances to achieve success internally and externally than Randymon," said Adam Stewart, CEO of Sandals Resorts International.
For his part, Russell said his new post is with a company that he's been competing against for 20 years. "The timing of everything was right," he said. "I'm looking forward to it ... I've loved the 12 years I've spent at Couples and we've had some great successes as a result of that continuity."
Russell, who will report to Adam Stewart, said his role will be to create an emotional connections with consumers seeking a Sandals resort experience, similar to what he's developed at Couples where he created the job of chief romance officer.
But one title he won't be able to take at Sandals is chief romance officer, since he officially registered that as a Couples role when he developed the post.
This is the second major move announced by Unique Vacations in the past few days.
Last week Kevin Froemming, Unique Vacations' president, left the Sandals representative firm, though he did not specify his next post.
Reportedly Froemming is taking a new executive role with Hyatt's first two new all-inclusive resorts, Hyatt Zilara Cancun and Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos. Both are conversions of existing properties and represent the company's entry into the all-inclusive space.
Miami-based Unique Vacations Inc. is a worldwide representative for Sandals Resorts, which has 15 properties in the Caribbean, including the new Sandals La Source Grenada and Sandals Barbados.
The company also represents Sandals sister companies Beaches Resorts, which has three current properties and a fourth under development, and Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts, which has two locations.
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