New roles for the industry’s movers and shakers
ADTOI
Adventure Tour Operators in India (ADTOI) recently launched its sixth chapter in Chattisgarh and appointed Ritesh Mundra as the chairman and Jaspreet Singh Bhatia as the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh Chapter. Other members include Kapil Jain, Mahesh Bansal, Pankaj Sood, Ajeet Dodai, Sunil Vishwakarma, Parminder Sahni, Rohit Dwivedi, Hardeep Hora and Ricky Malhotra.
IATA
Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal has been re-elected to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) board of governors for a fifth successive tenure. The reappointment follows IATA’s 72nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Dublin, Ireland. As a member of the board of governors, Goyal will participate in providing policy directives and guidance to IATA industry committees and to their subsidiary bodies. He will serve a three year term, lasting until the close of IATA’s 75th AGM in 2019. He is the only representative from India on the IATA board of governors. Willie Walsh, CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG), has succeeded Andres Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico, as chairman of the IATA board of governors. Walsh, who represents British Airways on the board, takes up his duties immediately for a one-year term until the conclusion of IATA’s 73rd AGM.
Tourism Authority of Thailand
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a campaign in India to target women travellers and has appointed Anusha Dandekar as its brand ambassador. A television personality, Dandekar was chosen by TAT as she represents the segment TAT aims to target.
Anantara Vacation Club
Anantara Vacation Club has appointed Nisha Chand as group director of human resources. A veteran HR professional with nearly two decades of experience, Chand joined Minor Hotels Group five years ago as a director of HR at Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort in Abu Dhabi. She subsequently moved to the corporate offices in Bangkok where she served as director of HR, before eventually taking over as regional director of HR. Chand managed the corporate team and provided support for the site HR leaders in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia. Before coming to Minor Hotels, she worked for more than 10 years with InterContinental Hotels Group in various operational and HR leadership roles in the Middle East.
Swiss International Airlines
Swiss International Airlines (SWISS) has appointed Reto Francioni as the chairman board of directors. Francioni served as the CEO of Deutsche Börse AG Frankfurt/ Germany from 2005 until May 2015. He has also been professor of Applied Capital Markets Theory at the University of Basel since 2006. His previous positions include various further executive functions, such as chairman of the Swiss Exchange in Zurich; co-CEO and management spokesman of Consors AG, Nuremberg; and a member of Corporate Finance Divisional Management at Hofmann-La Roche, Basel.
Doris Russi Schurter has been appointed as a member to the SWISS board of directors. A native of Lucerne, an attorney-at-law and a former partner at auditing and accountancy company KPMG, Schurter already sits on the boards of directors of several major corporations. She is also president of the VSUD, the association of Swiss companies in Germany.
Air Asia
AirAsia has appointed Kathleen Tan as president – North Asia. Under this role, she will be responsible for building AirAsia’s market in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Tan returns to AirAsia from her stint as CEO of AirAsiaExpedia. Before joining AirAsiaExpedia, Tan was regional head of commercial and senior vice president of China, at AirAsia from 2004 to 2013.
Sabre Travel Network
Daver Ka Fai Lau has been appointed as regional director, Sabre Travel Network – North Asia. Reporting to newly appointed Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific vice president of sales and market development, Todd Arthur, Fai Lau will lead the Sabre Travel Network business in North Asia (China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan). Based out of Taiwan, he will be responsible for business expansion and relationship development in the North Asia region, as well as driving local product and support initiatives for customers in these markets. A global distribution system business and travel technology veteran, Fai Lau has held various management roles in Asia Pacific spanning the last 19 years, most recently serving as general manager for Amadeus Taiwan.
AccorHotels, Mumbai
AccorHotels has announced the appointment of Namit Bhavsar as the new director, sales and marketing, Novotel Imagica, Khopoli. In his role, Bhavsar will be responsible for leading and further improving all aspects of the sales, social and digital marketing communications, and promoting brand strategies. A seasoned hotelier, Bhavsar has been in the hospitality industry for over eight years. Prior to joining AccorHotels, he was the associate director of sales at The St Regis, Mumbai.
The Ajman Palace Hotel
The Ajman Palace Hotel has appointed Mahmoud Haggag as executive assistant manager. Mahmoud’s most recent posting was at Mercure Center Hotel, Abu Dhabi where he worked as rooms division manager. In his new role, Mahmoud is tasked with assisting the general manager in hotel operations, specifically the rooms department, while ensuring service quality and guest satisfaction. Mahmoud has spent over 27 years in the hospitality industry, beginning his career at Semiraamis InterContinental Hotel and InterContinental Hotel – Hurghada, Egypt.