Meliá Hotels International names Markella Votsi as director of sales and marketing for ME London

Meliá Hotels International announces that Markella Votsi has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for ME London, the ME by Meliá brand’s flagship, five-star property known for cutting-edge design. In her new role, Votsi is responsible for developing, managing and monitoring the execution of the sales strategy to maximize both revenue and occupancy levels, to keep the hotel at the forefront of its competition.

Prior to joining ME London, Votsi was the Director of Sales for the Millennium Gloucester & Bailey’s Hotels where she increased corporate rates, doubled the volume of residential meetings and developed a new high-end business and leisure base. Previously she was the Director of Business Sales for Hilton Worldwide in London and before that, was the Assistant Director of Sales at The Langham Hotel in London.

Anthony Kaufman Appointed Senior Vice President of Asia Operations for the Princess Cruises Brand

Anthony Kaufman has been appointed by Carnival plc to the new position of senior vice president, Asia operations for the Princess Cruises brand.  In this newly created role, Kaufman will oversee multiple sales and marketing teams throughout Asia that are focused on growing the Princess brand throughout the region and supporting the brand’s itineraries in China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore. In addition, he will continue to develop Princess Cruises’ strong relationships with government authorities, industry associations and business partners in the region. He will also facilitate coordination with the many operating departments that support Princess’ growing Asia deployment.

Previously Princess’ senior vice president of commercial affairs, Kaufman will now focus on the company’s new program to base ships in both the Japan and China cruise markets. In Japan, the Princess brand is entering its second year with two ships based in three homeports. New this year, one Princess ship will be based in Shanghai to introduce a brand-new premium “Princess Class” cruise experience to the China vacation market, and will then move to homeport in Singapore to offer a series of cruises in the Southeast Asia region.

Loews Hotels & Resorts announces Michael Palmeri as senior vice president and new head of acquisitions and development

Loews Hotels & Resorts has announced the promotion of Michael Palmeri to senior vice president, acquisitions and development, who will assume responsibility for leading the company’s property acquisitions, real estate development and capital raising.

Palmeri, who joined Loews Hotels & Resorts in 2011, has played an instrumental role in growing the company and expanding the Loews brand.  Loews recently acquired hotels in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Boston and recently opened hotel four in Orlando, Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, a joint venture with NBC Universal.  Additionally the company is developing a hotel in Chicago, which is scheduled to open in early 2015.  He also plays a key role in managing new capital partners and raising equity for deals.

Palmeri joined Loews with extensive lodging investment experience having worked in acquisitions and asset management for hotel operating investment platforms – including Chicago-based Abacus Lodging Investors, and San Francisco-based Chartres Lodging Group.  He has invested and closed on more than $3.0 billion in full-service, upscale hotel real estate in major U.S. markets.

Agustín Valverde named general manager of Occidental Royal Oasis

Occidental Hotels & Resorts is proud to announce the appointment of Agustín Valverde as the general manager of Royal Oasis by Occidental – the luxury city hotel in the Petion-Ville neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Valverde joined the Occidental team in 2010 and has since continued to excel within the company, working with other destination resorts including Occidental Grand Xcaret and the Allegro Papagayo.  

Valverde began his hotel career nearly a decade ago with the Meliá-Araguaney Hotel in Spain before working with properties in the Netherlands, Canary Islands, Mexico and Costa Rica. With his international background and proficiency with English, Spanish, and German languages Valverde will be a valuable asset to Royal Oasis given the resorts location just steps away from several embassies, government agencies and international corporate offices.

SeaDream Yacht Club names Denise Roche as director of business development, Southwest USA

SeaDream Yacht Club announced Denise Roche has joined their sales team, bringing along her extensive knowledge of the SeaDream product and her passion for travel. Her last name (Roche), sounds familiar to many because in fact her husband, Rob Roche was for many years SeaDream’s director of business development in the same territory. Denise traveled onboard many times, and learned about SeaDream first hand over the course of many years with Rob. For the past 25 she has operated her own successful photography business in Southern California. Throughout her career she has been very active in the community. One organization that has been extremely rewarding for her entire family is Mending Kids International, an organization that brings children to the US from third world countries, who are in desperate need of life-saving surgeries.

Montage Hotels & Resorts announces three appointments to management team at Montage Kapalua Bay

Montage Hotels & Resorts has announced three new appointments to the management team at the brand's first Hawaii address, Montage Kapalua Bay.

With more than 15 years of sales experience in the hospitality arena and a proven track record of exceeding goals, Alex Matthies-Arnold joins the Montage Hotels & Resorts' team as director of sales & marketing for Montage Kapalua Bay. Matthies-Arnold arrives from nearby Grand Wailea, a Hilton resort on Maui, following a decade-long run as associate director of sales. During her 10-year tenure at Grand Wailea, Matthies-Arnold's sales achievements were recognized five times with a "Circle of Excellence" award, and she earned an "Elite Circle of Excellence" in 2012 by finishing in the top one percent of Hilton Worldwide Sales.

Previously, she was National Sales Manager for two years at Le Méridien, Dallas, and a Sales Manager for a year-and-a-half at Adams Mark, also in Dallas. Along with exceeding annual group and catering sales goals, she also revitalized the entertainment segment by 150% growth in her first year with the Le Méridien property. At the Adams Mark, Matthies-Arnold consistently exceeded sales goals and was named "employee of the quarter" in her first year with the hotel.

Heidi Denecke has been named leisure sales manager. Prior to joining Montage Hotels & Resorts' first Hawaiian property, Denecke served for more than 17 years overseeing domestic and international travel agency, sports and entertainment accounts as senior sales manager, travel industry, for The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. The quality of her work was frequently recognized along the way with honors including a Five Star Leader of the 1^st Quarter Award in 2012, a Chairman's Circle Award in 2010, and a Leader of the Year Award in 2003. Denecke has also been actively involved in community service, from serving as hostess for the annual Teddy Bear Tea at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, to spending six years on the Board of Directors of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawaii.

Katie Cotton has been named director of catering & conference services. A seasoned hospitality and culinary executive, Cotten arrives at Montage Kapalua Bay from Grand Wailea on Maui, where she was group sales manager and social catering manager, and exceeded annual group and sales goals consecutively. She also spent a year as manager at Ferraro's Restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Maui. Previous experience outside of the hotel and resort industry included time as catering manager with Wolfgang Puck Catering, where she produced and coordinated industry events including corporate conventions and upscale weddings. Cotten was also previously a baker and winemaker for Alexis Bally Vineyard in Hastings, Minnesota, where she assisted in harvesting, winemaking and bottling.

Nijs named chairman of ETC’s Marketing Intelligence Group

The European Travel Commission (ETC) elected Vincent Nijs, Research Manager at Visit Flanders, as the new chairman of its Marketing Intelligence Group (MIG), the leading European tourism research network, with almost three decades of experience in sharing knowledge and advancing research for the tourism sector.

The election took place at the 28th Annual Meeting of the European Travel Commission’s Market Intelligence Group, held between March 12 and 14 in Reykjavik, Iceland.