Welcome Aboard: New Hire Roundup for April 9, 2014

FRHI Hotels and Resorts Add Five

Andrew Gibson, who is now leading FRHI’s spa strategy as vice president of spas and wellness. A recognized and well-respected leader in the spa industry, Gibson brings a wide range of experience to this role, including his most recent posting with Mandarin Oriental Hotels Group. With more than 25 years of experience in the spa, leisure and wellness business, he is well recognized by the industry for his visionary leadership and creativity.

Sami Nasser was recruited to oversee FRHI’s activity in the Middle East, Africa and India as senior vice president of operations. An industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Nasser has held leadership positions with several international hospitality brands. Recently, he was senior vice president of operations, Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean for Sofitel. 

With China identified as a critical market for FRHI, the company was pleased to add Foued El Mabrouk as vice president of operations, China. El Mabrouk is a luxury hotel insider and is responsible for overseeing the company’s portfolio of hotels in China, focusing on performance, employee engagement and the implementation of quality and standards. He is an accomplished linguist, fluent in English, Mandarin, French and Arabic and is a graduate of Cornell University.

Brett Patterson is FRHI’s vice president of food and beverage, Americas. Patterson has extensive experience as an executive chef and most recently was vice president of food and beverage, Asia Pacific for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. His increasingly responsible positions during his career speak to his talent and abilities.

With over 20 years of senior hospitality experience, Wayne Buckingham recently joined the FRHI group as senior vice president, Asia Pacific. Overseeing FRHI’s Asia Pacific portfolio from the company’s regional office in Singapore, Buckingham arrives with industry prowess and influence, having held positions across Asia for TCC Hotels Group and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Schwarz to Steer Culinary for Royal Caribbean International’s Quantum ships

Royal Caribbean International and The Genuine Hospitality Group are proud to announce James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Schwartz as the latest Quantum Experience Advisor for Culinary. Known for his fresh, simple and pure approach to food and drink, Schwartz will help influence food and beverage experiences aboard Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s highly anticipated cruise ships set to debut in November 2014 and April 2015, respectively. His  new role comes in addition to the latest announcement of the introduction of Michael’s Genuine Pub on Quantum-class ships, the first American gastropubs at sea, announced last week at Royal Caribbean’s culinary reveal in New York City. As Quantum Experience Advisor for Culinary, Schwartz joins athlete and adventurer Dhani Jones, Quantum Experience Advisor for Sports and Fitness, and HGTV-star Genevieve Gorder, Quantum Experience Advisor for Design.

MSC Cruises Grows North American Executive Team

Richard E. Sasso, president of MSC Cruises USA, announced a dedicated and specialized executive team has been assembled to build on the momentum of MSC Cruises’ expansion into North America and to ensure that the needs of the line’s travel agent partners are met.

Ken Muskat, former senior vice president Sales & Marketing, who joined the line in June of 2013, has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing, PR and Guest Services. In this expanded role, he will continue to oversee the North American sales, marketing, public relations and customer service aspects of the organization, while adding responsibility for the reservations department, handling trade and consumer reservations.

Muskat started with MSC Cruises in June 2013 as the line finalized preparations to home port the MSC Divina in Miami, its first ship with a year-round presence specifically for the North American market. Muskat led the orchestration of celebrations for the ship’s arrival, including the escort provided by a fleet of FIAT 500 watercrafts, as well as a number of travel agent specific initiatives, such as road shows, a dedicated radio program, launch of a travel agent Facebook page, and more.

Sasso also announced the appointment of Rick Cazzell in the newly created position of Vice President of Trade Support & Guest Services. He will take on responsibilities for reservations, consumer direct sales, customer service and IT. 

Cazzell brings more than 25 years of experience in a number leadership positions within a variety of travel contact centers.  Most recently at Silversea Cruises, he oversaw day-to-day operations of the direct sales team working directly with various other departments, including Marketing and IT, to deliver bottom line results.  Prior to that he has also led other such travel related contact center operations for companies like Interval International; PRC where he oversaw the Expedia.com’s Care and Sales teams; and American Express where he spent over 12 years in a variety of roles. 

New Business Development Managers Appointed for Princess and Cunard

The Princess Cruises and Cunard Line North America Sales team has added two new business development managers to support travel agents. Long-time Princess employee Selina Luketic will represent the lines in Southern California, while industry professional Kendra Asmus will serve Arizona, the territory covered by Paulette Pyrick, who retired from the company last month after 26 years of service.

With 13 years of service at Princess Cruises, Luketic will serve as business development manager of the Western Region for Los Angeles County and Ventura County, including the San Fernando Valley and West Los Angeles area, the Santa Clarita Valley and San Gabriel Valley. Luketic has had a prominent role in customer service within the company. Her most recent experience has been with one of the web development and testing teams in Santa Clarita, and prior positions include Reservations, Yield Management, Telesales, Customer Relations, Public Relations and Customer Service.

Asmus brings 18 years of experience to the Arizona region. Asmus comes to Princess most recently from Uniworld River Cruises where she was the business development manager for New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas for the past three years. Prior to that, she occupied the same role at Carnival Cruise Lines for New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, in addition to her previous position as Tour Manager for Holland America Line, based in Anchorage. She has also had involvement on the agency side of business and led training for new travel agents.

Murakami promoted to assistant general manager at Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort

Outrigger Enterprises Group is pleased to announce the promotion of Debbie Murakami from front operations manager to assistant general manager at the Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort.

In her new role, Murakami will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the resort, working closely with the front office and housekeeping managers to oversee the bell services, housekeeping and front desk departments, and assisting the general manager in achieving financial, guest service and IHG brand requirements and goals.

Prior to the Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber Resort, Murakami held the front office manager position at the Courtyard by Marriott Waikiki Beach, The Wyland Waikiki and the Outrigger Reef on the Beach. Murakami joined Outrigger in 1996 as guest services manager at the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach after gaining experience in guest services at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, night audit at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel and concierge at the Halekulani Hotel.

Murakami holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is a trainer for DISC, a behavioral assessment tool based on different personality traits, and a member of Travel & Tourism Industry Professionals Worldwide.

Pleasant Holidays Appoints Two New Business Development Managers

Pleasant Holidays today announced the appointment of two new Business Development Managers (BDMs) to its nationwide sales team. Both BDMs will represent Pleasant Holidays and Journese, the company’s luxury travel brand. Maria Landrau-Mackey, based in Houston, will focus on agents in Southeast Texas, Southern Louisiana  and home-based agents nationwide. Lisa Larson, based in Denver, will assist agents in the western states of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming and Montana as well as the El Paso, Texas, area.

Landrau-Mackey brings a wealth of business development knowledge and a deep understanding of the needs of travel agents to this south Texas territory for Pleasant Holidays. Her well-rounded perspective of the industry is drawn from more than 17 years promoting travel as a Texas area BDM, first as a representative of a tourist board followed by seven years with a major luxury Caribbean hotel chain. Bilingual in English and Spanish, Landrau-Mackey has both a Bachelor of Arts and a master’s degree from University of St. Thomas.

With 20 years of industry experience, Larson is very adept at developing long-term relationships with her travel agent partners. She uses a variety of business strategies to help them achieve the growth they desire, including sales and marketing techniques, promotional events and exceptional customer service practices. An active member of the Business Marketing Association in Denver, Larson holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Metropolitan State University.

Playa Hotels & Resorts Announces New Sales Representative for Italy

Kevin Froemming, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Playa Resorts Management (Playa) has announced the appointment of Saskia Bigai as the official Playa sales representative for Italy.  Bigai is the managing director of her Italian based sales representative firm, Dreams Hotels.   

Bigai brings more than 20 years of group and travel industry sales experience across a diverse range of international luxury hotels and resorts. She began her career as a tour operator specializing in Caribbean destinations.  In 1999 she joined Constance Hotels where she was Director of Sales and Marketing in Italy. She founded her own firm, Dreams Hotels Consulting in 2006 and through her firm has held sales and marketing positions for several large resort brands.