G Adventures

Ashley Jean has been appointed to the position of sales manager, Eastern Canada, at G Adventures. Jean joins the company from Flight Centre in Halifax where she worked as a top-selling travel agent, booking a wide range of travel product for her clients. Based in Halifax, she is responsible for growing G Adventures’ presence in Quebec and the Maritime provinces and building and fostering strong relationships with partners in the market. (http://www.gadventures.com)

Sunwing

Helen “Lexi” Lipitkas has joined the Sunwing Vacations team in the capacity of director, group sales, overseeing Sunwing and Signature Vacations groups sales departments nationally. An industry veteran, Lipitkas brings years of management experience to here new role, including 11 years with Sunquest Vacations. She can be reached at llipitkas@sunwing.ca or by calling 416-620-3714.

Emirates

Emirates Airlines has announced the appointment of Savio Pires to the position of sales manager for Western Canada. In his new role, Pires will be responsible for Emirates’ sales operations in Western Canada and for facilitating local partnerships and initiatives. Pires is the airline’s first sales manager in Western Canada and has a background of experience in the airline, cruise, tour and online consumer travel industries. His appointment comes shortly after the airline announced an interline agreement with WestJet, and before the launch of a new daily service from Seattle, starting March 1.

Kensington Tours

Fiona Barclay has been appointed director of purchasing at Kensington Tours. Barclay will be largely responsible for reviewing rates and contracts across Kensington’s network of DMC’s to bring consistency in purchasing policies and procedures and to ensure best possible rate negotiation. She will also have a focus on securing national and international agreements with hotel chains and other major vendors. Barclay has extensive industry experience, her most recent role being that of VP Product and Partnerships at Air Canada Vacations.

G7 Travel Network

As G7 Travel Network continues towards its launch as a new Canadian travel association, it has announced the appointment of Emmet Reidy as vice-president and general manager. Having previously been director of sales, National Accounts, for WestJet and WestJet Vacations, Reidy brings an abundance of experience into this developing network. Reidy will be responsible for delivering sales and marketing strategies, establishing regional and national sales goals, soliciting new associate members for the G7 Network and maintaining strategic supplier relationships.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group

David McMillan has been appointed area vice-president, Canada, Americas, for the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. McMillan, a global hospitality industry veteran, is based in Toronto and has full operational responsibility for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group business in Canada. He will report directly to Thorsten Kirschke, president, Americas, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. McMillan will be focused on supporting growth and driving profitability consistent with the company’s expansion plan for the region and its Ambition 2015 global growth strategy. Working closely with McMillan to drive profitability in Canada will be district director Charmain Stoyand; Sandy Russell, senior director, Global Sales; and Sean Shannon, vice-president, Development. McMillan has contributed to the success of a wide range of major international hotels and resorts affiliated with Hyatt International, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels Corporation and Hilton International in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. Most recently, he served as a consultant in the role of director, Hotels and Tourism Development with Genivar, LP.

TPI

Phil Sproul is stepping down as president of Travel Professionals International (TPI), effective Feb. 29, following four successful years at the helm of the company. TPI Founder, Chairman and CEO, Morris Chia, will become president effective March 1, having previously held the TPI president title for more than a decade prior to Sproul’s hiring. “I’m a firm believer in time and place,” said Sproul, “and my time at TPI has been filled with great people and great results. I will miss the people most at TPI but I will take everything I learnt with them on to my next adventure.” Effective immediately, Sproul will begin transitioning from his day-to-day role overseeing TPI and I.A.S. – Independent Agency Services Corp. (IAS) sister companies Corporate Travel Solutions and International Golf Vacations to become an advisor to the organizations.

Crystal Cruises

Crystal Cruises

Crystal Cruises has doubled its Canadian sales support with the appointment of Stephanie Vazquez as district sales manager for western Canada. The hiring marks the first time the luxury line has positioned dedicated sales managers in eastern and western Canada. Based in Vancouver, Vazquez will manage sales efforts in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. She comes to Crystal from Encore Cruises, one of Canada’s premier cruise specialists. The addition of Vazquez comes two months after Crystal announced the appointment of Karen Scott Caplice to manage the Canadian sales territory east of Manitoba.

Insight Vacations

Insight Vacations

Insight Vacations has appointed a new sales manager for Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Lisa Bray has joined the Insight Canadian sales team and will be covering the Prairie Provinces. Bray comes to Insight with more than 27 years of industry experience, including retail, tour operator sales and travel educator. She has been the chair of CITC Saskatchewan for nine years and industry educator for 10 years with CITC and local educational institutions. Most recently, Bray served as the Saskatchewan business development manager for Thomas Cook Canada.

VoX International

The Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB), representing The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel in southwest Florida, has appointed VoX International Inc. as its marketing agency to promote the destination in Canada. Under the direction of the VCB, the firm will be responsible for developing and implementing a marketing plan, provide a strategic direction in sales, public relations and promotions. Jeanette Faria, account manager with VoX, has extensive experience in the tourism industry, directing travel trade marketing for several destinations throughout North America and the Caribbean and will head up the account. The account will also be supported by the agency’s team members in Quebec and Western Canada. Faria can be reached at Jeanette@voxtm.ca or 416-935-1896, ext. 239.

Transat Distribution

Lydie Rauzon has been appointed to the position of manager, Cruise Products for Transat Distribution Canada. Most recently Rauzon was working in another division of the company, as TDC’s manager – Business Support and Development within the Quebec region. Rauzon has extensive experience working with large networks of agencies to develop business plans that would incorporate the benefits of preferred partner support and selling into cruise block space programs. She can be reached at 514-987-1760, ext. 1073 or via e-mail at Lydie.Rauzon@transat.com.

Rocky Mountaineer

Rocky Mountaineer has expanded is sales team with the appointment of Cynthia (Laforge) Landry to the position of sales manager, Eastern Canada. Based in Toronto, Landry is responsible for generating sales at the retail level through travel agency partners in both the Ontario and Quebec markets. She has over seven years sales and operations experience in the financial and tourism industries.

CIT Tours

CIT Tours has announced the addition of Liliana Vieira to its team of Destination Specialists in the role of Business Development - Latin America. Vieira has worked in the travel industry since 1986 in multiple capacities both in tour operator and retail, as well as airline segments. She has vast product knowledge and experience stemming from previous positions as South America Destination Specialist, among others at South American Tours. She was the first corporate sales manager for LAN Airlines in Canada, and most recently occupied the role of regional sales manager for Hainan Airlines. Vieira can be reached at liliana@cittours.ca or by calling 1-800-387-0711, ext. 238.

Thomas Cook

Amr Dief has been appointed to the role of inside sales and loyalty manager at Thomas Cook Canada. Dief has worked for Thomas Cook for more than eight years, most recently in the role of supervisor for Thomas Cook Canada’s Air Division (Intair and Network). He brings with him a great deal of experience from the independent side of the business, as well as cruise, working closely with both Holiday House and Encore Cruises. Based in Toronto, he can be reached at Amr.dief@thomascookgroup.ca or at 416-485-1481, ext.6754.

Australian Pacific Touring

Jason Stratford has joined Australian Pacific Touring’s Vancouver-based team as manager, sales and marketing support. Born in Adelaide, Australia, Stratford has an extensive background in the travel and tourism industry. He has worked for Qantas Holidays and Concorde Travel in Australia, the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Travel Alberta, Anza Travel and The Travel Group in Vancouver. Most recently he specialized in creating travel experiences for Canadians to Australia and New Zealand with itineraries tailor-made to suit the clients’ interests and time-frame.

Thomas Cook

Shannon Smith is the newest member of the Thomas Cook team, appointed district sales manager for Encore Cruises (Ontario and Atlantic Canada). Smith has been in the travel industry for more than 12 years. After graduating from the Travel & Tourism program at Fanshawe College, she worked for the Walt Disney World Company in Florida as a Cultural Representative for Canada. She can be reached at Shannon.Smith@thomascookgroup.ca or by calling 1-800-387-8438, ext. 6442.

Orient-Express

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. has announced the appointment of Ali V. Kasikci as regional managing director for North America, Mexico and the Caribbean, effective Jan. 30, 2012. As part of his responsibilities, Kasikci will manage the renovation, reopening and re-launch of El Encanto in Santa Barbara, California. In addition, he will also be responsible for the management of six of the company’s existing portfolio -- Keswick Hall, Virginia; The Inn at Perry Cabin, Maryland; La Samanna, St. Martin; Maroma Resort & Spa, Riviera Maya; and Casa de Sierra Nevada, San Miguel de Allende; and the iconic ‘21’ Club restaurant and bar in New York City. Kasikci joins Orient-Express from the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles where as chief executive officer and general manager he oversaw a multi-million dollar renovation. Prior to this, Kasikci served as vice-president of Strategic Planning & Development for Montage Hotels & Resorts.

Star Alliance

The chief executive board of Star Alliance has appointed Mark Schwab to head the Star Alliance central organization, based in Frankfurt, Germany as its new chief executive.
Schwab comes from Star Alliance member United where he was responsible for the company’s alliances as senior vice-president, Alliances. In this capacity he also served as a member of Star Alliance’s management board. He succeeds Jaan Albrecht, who was appointed as CEO of Austrian Airlines on Nov. 1. (http://www.staralliance.com)

Saint Lucia

The newly elected government of Saint Lucia has appointed Lorne Theophilus, Member of Parliament for Choiseul, as its new minister of Tourism, Heritage and the Creative Industries. The appointment was made with the swearing in of the Saint Lucia Labour Party’s new Cabinet, headed by three-term Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony. Theophilus is an Attorney at Law. Over the years he has built a reputation of fighting for the rights of the average man and has volunteered on tourism projects.

TOI

Michel Lemay, vice-president, communications and corporate affairs and chief brand officer of Transat A.T. Inc., is the new chair of the board of directors of the Tour Operators’ Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development (TOI), a non-profit organization that fosters best practices in sustainable tourism development. Lemay, who has served on the TOI board since 2008, was elected by member companies on Dec. 2 in Madrid. Founded in 2000, the TOI is a non-profit organization for tour operators and travel companies from around the world. Together they represent more than 50 million international travellers. With this initiative, tour operators are moving toward sustainable tourism by committing to the concepts of sustainable development in their operations.

TPAC

TravelOnly chairman Patrick Luciani has been picked to become a member of Carnival Cruise Line’s 2012 Travel Partner Advisory Committee (TPAC) -- an influential group of 20 travel partners that Carnival uses to help guide its overall sales objectives and plans throughout the year. The primary objective of the committee is to provide feedback to Carnival’s worldwide sales team regarding various initiatives.

WestJet

WestJet has announced the appointment of Bryan Wolfenden as director of leisure sales for WestJet and WestJet Vacations. Responsible for business development as well as regional accounts for WestJet and national accounts for WestJet Vacations, Wolfenden brings more than 32 years of experience developing and managing large accounts. He joined WestJet in 2002 as sales manager for Eastern Canada.

Scenic Tours

Scenic Tours Canada has announced the appointment of Dragan Rusimovici to the role of marketing executive. With 15 years experience, Rusimovici joins Scenic after 12 years with Transat Tours Canada where he held several positions in the Western Canada marketing department. At Scenic, he will be responsible for creating, executing and co-ordinating cost effective online and print marketing strategies for Scenic Tours in Canada. By establishing key targets for each specific promotion, he will lead the team in achieving both sales and revenue targets associated with each promotional component, ensuring seamless execution.

Coast Hotels

Okabe North America Inc. has announced the appointment of Robert Pratt as president of Coast Hotels & Resorts. He is responsible for leading the strategic direction, management and growth of the hotel chain’s Canadian operations. Before joining Coast Hotels & Resorts, Pratt was chief operating officer of Westmont Hospitality Group in Toronto, where he oversaw 160 hotels across Canada operating under 12 franchised brands. After graduating from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration with a Bachelor of Science, Pratt spent 17 years with Westin Hotels and Resorts, holding progressively senior roles in sales, marketing and hotel operations, eventually serving as general manager of the Westin properties in Ottawa and Edmonton. He then joined Silverbirch Hotels & Resorts as regional vice-president of the Pacific Northwest region and was appointed president of Silverbirch in 2007, where he was responsible for operations of 40 hotels coast-to-coast operating under 12 franchised brands. Coast Hotels & Resorts has 30 hotels in Canada with 4,053 guest rooms in BC, Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

Contiki Holidays

Contiki Holidays has announced that Lauren Howard has joined the Canada team as National Creative Brand and Marketing Manager. Howard has an established background in digital and offline media, and has proven experience leading successful marketing, PR and communications teams. Most recently, Lauren served as national marketing manager for K2 Sports, in the youth-focused action sports industry. She can be reached at lauren.howard@contiki.com or by calling 416-915-7037.

PATA

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has appointed Martin Craigs as its new CEO, effective Oct. 31. Craigs is currently president of Aerospace Forum Asia (AFA) and managing partner at Hillcrest International Advisory. For the last 25 years, he has been mostly based in Hong Kong. An aviation industry specialist, Craigs has held important and senior positions at companies such as Short Brothers and Saab Scania Group, rising to become executive vice-president of BAE Systems. Over the last few years, Craigs has been asked to lobby for or advise diverse organizations such as Air Asia, the Hong Kong SAR Government, Reed Elsiver, The Economist, IATA and Pacific Basin Economic Council.

Fairmont Le Château Montebello

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has announced the appointment of Geneviève Dumas to the position of general manager, Fairmont Le Château Montebello. Most recently Dumas held the position of general manager at the Marriott Residence Inn and Hilton Homewood Suites in Mont-Tremblant. Prior to taking on her GM role in Mont-Tremblant in 2009, Geneviève held various positions within Fairmont Hotels & Resorts such as director of operations and interim general manager at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, as well as the interim general manager, director of operations, rooms division manager, executive housekeeper, sales manager and food and beverage manager over the course of her 12 years stint at Fairmont Tremblant.

APT

Australian Pacific Touring (APT) has officially announced the appointment of industry veteran Nicole De Wilde as the new vice-president of sales and marketing for North America, based at the company’s Vancouver office. Joining De Wilde is Aubrey Schmidt in eastern Canada, named sales manager for North America and based in Orangeville, Ont. Schmidt makes a return to APT where he has 12 years experience. The appointments are regarded as a statement of commitment to the North American market by APT, said company CEO Chris Hall. This includes the consolidation of sales, marketing and administrative operations into the Vancouver office for the continent. In doing so, APT is closing its location in Los Angeles. De Wilde has more than 25 years of experience in the international travel industry, during which time she has brought many new travel products to established markets. She is skilled in building mutually beneficial partnerships to increase market share and profitability, said Hall. Previously, De Wilde established Scenic Tours in the North American market, and held the positions of vice-president, sales and business development for Rocky Mountaineer; VP sales & marketing for Signature Vacations; and president of Insight Vacations in Canada.

Unique Vacations

Sandra Mallette is the newest member of Canada’s sales team for Sandals Resorts, Beaches Resorts and Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts serving as business development manager in Quebec working with travel agents, tour operators and tourist board partners in the province. No stranger to the Quebec travel industry or to Sandals Resorts, Mallette previously held this position between 2007 and 2009 when she left to pursue a different career path. Prior to joining Sandals Resorts in 2007, she spent over eight years at Vacances Tours Mont-Royal in a number of areas including sales, reservations and as a destination representative. Mallette can be reached at 1-800-545-8283, ext. 4954, or 514-754-2885 or via e-mail at smallette@uvisandals.ca .

Delta Hotels and Resorts

Delta Hotels and Resorts has announced the appointment of Colin Perry to general manager of Delta Whistler Village Suites, effective Sept. 12. In his new position, Perry will oversee the resort’s operations. He brings more than 11 years of industry experience to the position, all of which he spent in progressive leadership positions within the Delta brand. This includes his most recent position as director of operations at Delta Lodge at Kananaskis.

Enterprise Holdings

Paul Evon has been appointed the new general manager for Atlantic Canada for Enterprise Holdings, parent of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Car Rental. Evon brings 20 years of experience with Enterprise Holdings to the role, most recently as the regional vice-president for Charlotte, North Carolina. He replaces Andy Feldman, who is taking on a new role as general manager for the U.S. Heartland region.

Marriott Fallsview, Marriott Gateway on the Falls

Anthony Annunziata has been appointed vice-president of marketing for the Marriott Fallsview Hotel & Spa and Marriott Gateway on the Falls Conference and Convention Centre. Annunziata joined Marriott to lead its marketing team in November 2010 and brings exemplary skill and experience from his many years of working for the tourism industry in Niagara Falls. In his new role, he will have a large hand in marketing a $15-million renovation of the Marriott Gateway, as well as leveraging the property and its proximity to the Scotiabank Convention Centre to help position Niagara Falls as a new convention hot spot. Prior to joining Marriott, Annunziata held vice-president of marketing positions with the Hilton Hotel and Suites, Niagara Fallsview Casino and Resort, Casino Niagara.

Thomas Cook

Jacqueline Grossman has been appointed to the role of director, retail marketing, at Thomas Cook Canada. In her new role, Grossman oversees the various marketing initiatives across all of Thomas Cook Canada’s retail brands and acts as the primary contact for the Sears Travel relationship. Working closely with the Thomas Cook Canada marketing team, she will set the creative direction, branding, messaging and strategy for these brands, which include in-house retailers BelAir Travel and Thomas Cook and their various online propositions, as well as the new Thomas Cook Affiliate network. With more than 18 years in the marketing field, Grossman has a wealth of experience in branding, marketing strategies and communications. Her most recent employer was HRG North America (formerly BTI Canada), where she was VP of marketing. She can be reached at Jacqueline.grossman@thomascookgroup.ca.

Sunwing Vacations

Sunwing Vacations has expanded its Canadian roster. Richard Moore has joined the Sunwing Vacations operations team in the capacity of national director, sales centre, overseeing both Toronto and Montreal sales centres. Moore brings 15 years of call centre management experience, including over 10 years with Assurant Solutions of Kingston, Ont., to his new position. In the group’s sales department, Sunwing welcomes Marco Corona to the position of group sales supervisor. He comes to the Sunwing Travel Group after 10 years with Thomas Cook in the group sales department, most recently as senior group’s sales representative. Moore can be reached at rmoore@sunwing.ca or by calling 1-877-877-1755 or 416-620-3384, while Corona can be reached at mcorona@sunwing.ca or by calling 1-800-668-4224.

Groupe Germain Hospitality

Didier Obeuf has been named vice-president of operations for Groupe Germain Hospitality, responsible for a national portfolio from his Toronto base. Obeuf oversees comprehensive operations for Groupe Germain’s family owned business with interests across the country including its Boutique hotels, as well as ALT hotels. Obeuf has worked for many successful companies, from Westmont Hospitality to the Evian Royal Resort in France to Accor North America. Most recently, he was the Regional Asset Manager for Westmont Hospitality, overseeing the Fairmont portfolio in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec.

Tourism Vancouver

Tourism Vancouver has announced its new board of directors for 2011/2012. The 15-member board represents a cross-section of Metro Vancouver’s tourism industry and will be chaired by Howard Jang, executive director of the Arts Club Theatre Company. This marks the first time a representative from Vancouver’s arts and cultural community has chaired Tourism Vancouver’s board of directors. Others on the board include James Terry, executive VP of Rocky Mountaineer (past chair); George Bartel, president of Vancouver All Terrain Adventures; Ken Cretney, GM of the Vancouver Convention Centre; Nicholas Gandossi, GM of the Opus Hotel Vancouver; Jonas Melin, GM of the Inn at False Creek – Quality Hotel Downtown Vancouver; Robert Safrata, owner of West Coast Sightseeing/Grayline; John Sandor, GM of the Sutton Place Hotel; Marion Harper Treskin, GM of The Westin Grand Vancouver and others.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

New faces are joining the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts team in Vancouver. These include Philip Barnes, who has been appointed vice-president and general manager of the Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver. Barnes brings over three decades worth of hospitality experience to his new role and returns to Vancouver from Dubai, where he held his most recent role as regional vice-president, UAE; and general manager, Fairmont Dubai. Also new to the property team are: Simone Harms, who moves into the position of director of operations at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport; Rudolf Gimmi, who has been appointed director of operations, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver; and Joanne Perschbacher, the new director of sales and marketing at the Fairmont Waterfront, Vancouver.

Shangri-La

Shangri-La International Hotel Management Limited reports the appointment of Richard Cooke as the new general manager of the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto, with responsibility for the Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver, as well. Currently the general manager of the Traders Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Cooke brings more than 20 years of hospitality experience on four continents to his new post, which includes management positions at the Regent in Auckland, New Zealand and Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood Hotels in the US. He joined Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts as executive assistant manager in 2000 in Singapore before becoming corporate director for food and beverage in the company’s head office. The Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto is due to open in the summer of 2012.

Tokyo

For the first time ever, Tokyo has opened a tourist office in Canada. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which oversees the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau, has announced the appointment of Akira Tsushima as its representative in Canada. He will be based in Toronto. Tushima, who came to Canada 26 years ago, is no stranger to tourism as he worked for a major Japanese travel company in its Toronto office and promoted outbound tourism from Canada to Japan. Previously, he worked for a Japanese company that was in charge for exporting products to the United States and for the last 10 years in that capacity was its chief executive officer. He currently runs a tourism and investment consulting business. In his new role, his main responsibilities will include providing information to Canadian travel agents, wholesalers and meeting planners; be a point of contact and provide information to the Canadian media; act as Tokyo’s representative at various events including trade shows; work in close conjunction with the Toronto-based office of the Japan National Tourist Office (JNTO) on various activities; educate travel trade, media and consumers on Tokyo.

Delta Chelsea

Susan Welsby has been named director of sales of downtown Toronto’s Delta Chelsea Hotel, Delta Hotel’s flagship property and Canada’s largest hotel. For the past five years, Welsby was director of sales of Delta Toronto East. As the Delta Hotels & Resorts “2010 Director of Sales of the Year” she brings nearly two decades of sales experience within the greater Toronto area to the position. Prior to joining the Delta brand, Welsby worked with Novotel Hotels. She is also a graduate of the Travel and Tourism program at Humber College.