Who got a new gig this week? Check out this week’s travel industry movers & shakers!
1. Smiling new addition for Eclipse
South America specialist Eclipse Travel has appointed Stephen Lanfranco to the position of Sales Team Leader.
Growing up in Papua New Guinea and having the chance to travel at a very young age shaped Lanfranco’s passion for travel and adventure. His travels have taken him through South, Central and North America, Europe, Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East.
At Sydney-based Eclipse Travel Lanfranco brings his product knowledge to a team of eight experienced travel managers.
Prior to joining Eclipse Travel, Lanfranco was Global Corporate Product Manager at Flight Centre and Product Manager and Team Leader at Adventure Travel.
“I’ve had a very colourful and diverse career in travel, doing everything from running surf schools in the Maldives and Spain and small hotels in the Swiss Alps, to working for multinational travel companies.”
Stephen Lanfranco, Eclipse Travel Sales Team Leader
“My goal in life is to try and go somewhere new every year whether it’s for work or play.”
2. Disney expands presence in Australia
We love the parks, the resorts and the cruises and now Aussie agents are going to have access to even more Disney as the company builds its local presence.
Disney Destinations – responsible for Disney Parks & Resorts and Disney Cruises – has appointed David Clark, a former helloworld and Carnival Australia employee, to head up its Travel and Business Development in Australia and New Zealand.
Effective immediately, Clark is responsible for building the brand’s presence around the two countries while also searching for new business partnership opportunities that will benefit sales.
3. LA Tourism bolsters local team
Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (L.A. Tourism) has bolstered its on-the-ground team with the appointment of Karen Prideaux to the role of Travel Trade Manager, Australia & New Zealand.
Karen will be responsible for trade relations across the Oceania market for L.A. Tourism, as well as promoting the redevelopment of LAX Airport, which is in the final stages of a USD$8.5 billion renovation.
Based in L.A. Tourism’s Sydney office, Karen will report to Craig Gibbons, Regional Director, Australia and New Zealand.
Prior to joining L.A. Tourism, Karen spent eight years as Travel Business Development Manager at Disney Destinations. She brings to the role extensive knowledge of the Australia and New Zealand market as well as Southern California as a prime tourist destination.
4. Mantra Group expands local team
Mantra Group has made key senior General Manager appointments to align with network growth across Australia and Indonesia.
Christopher Northam is relocating to Bali to take up the newly created dual role as Area Manager Bali, Indonesia and General Manager at Mantra Sakala Resort and Beach Club. In this role Chris will also oversee operations of Peppers Seminyak and Suarga Padang Padang by Peppers. With a strategic focus on growing the network in Bali, the portfolio is set to grow over the next 12 months.
Chris has worked for Mantra Group as Area Manager North Queensland and GM Peppers Beach Club Resort & Spa for over four years. His leadership and ability to assemble a highly motivated and passionate team has undoubtedly contributed to his property achieving recognition as a market leader in the highly competitive North Queensland tourism region.
Stefan Kracke will replace Chris Northam as Area Manager North Queensland and General Manager Peppers Beach Club & Spa, promoted from his current General Manager role at Peppers Blue on Blue in Magnetic Island. Stefan will also oversee Mantra Trilogy, Mantra Esplanade, and BreakFree Royal Harbour in Cairns; Mantra Amphora in Palm Cove, Peppers Beach Club in Port Douglas and Peppers Blue on Blue Magnetic Island.
Stefan is a highly experienced hotelier who having held previous General Manager positions with Accor in New Zealand and Fiji having started his career in boutique hotels in his native Germany. Stefan’s leadership skills and ability to integrate activity with local tourism authorities will ensure the continued success of the North Queensland hotels.
With the much anticipated opening scheduled for January 2016, Jeremy Nordkamp has been appointed General Manager of Peppers Docklands Melbourne – a new build mixed-use development in collaboration with Capital Alliance. Jeremy has made the move to Melbourne to manage the hotel in its pre-opening phase having previously held General Manager positions at Mantra on Edward Brisbane and Peppers Beach Club Port Douglas. This is Mantra Group’s first Melbourne hotel for its high end Peppers brand and part of strategic CBD acquisitions and new developments taking place for the respected brand.
New to Mantra Group, Neil McDonald has been appointed General Manager Mantra 2 Bond Street and Area Manager for NSW. In this role he will oversee Mantra on Kent, BreakFree on George, BreakFree on Clarence and Mantra Wollongong. His management career started on Hayman Island Resort as Food and Beverage Manager and progressed to Hotel Manager at Radisson Plaza Hotel before his first General Manager position with Radisson Darling Harbour Hotel.
Neil moved to China with Regent Hotels to open their flagship property “The Regent Shanghai” before joining Starwood Hotels to open Sheraton Hotels in Suzhou and Shanghai. Most recently Neil was the Cluster Managing Director for Sheraton Hotels in Qingdao, China.
5. Best Western CEO retires
Best Western Australasia’s longest serving chief executive and industry veteran, Rob Anderson has announced his retirement this week.
Anderson served under the Motel Federation of Australia and Best Western banners for nearly 30 years as a hotel member, director, chairman/president and was elected to the chief executive role in 2005.
Anderson received the company’s inaugural Global Leadership Award and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute of Management. He has a Bachelor of Business (UTS) and Masters in Commerce (UNSW).
“Best Western and the global hotel industry is going through an exciting period of rapid change and we are responding with a decisiveness and at a pace that is driven by our expanding global pipeline and new hotel brands.”
Rob Anderson
“May I express my gratitude to the members, the staff and my friends in the industry for your support over the last thirty years. To be of service to such a great group of people has been a wonderful privilege.”
Succeeding Anderson, Steve Richards (former GM Sales & Marketing) has been appointed to the role of Head of Commercial and Spencer Watson (former GM Regional Services and Quality Assurance Program) has been appointed to Head of Operations following approval from Best Western Australasia’s Board of Directors.
During his leadership, Anderson led some of the biggest changes in Best Western’s history.
In 2006, the company embarked on a transformative refocus, improving the quality and standard of the Best Western brand through adding a rigorous Quality Assurance Program, member education training and new digital platforms.
As a result, guest satisfaction scores tripled and overall business to members increased 250 per cent in the past five years.
6. Amadeus’ new appointment focuses on corporate
Amadeus has amplified its approach to the expanding corporate IT segment with the appointment of Frederic Saunier as Head of Corporate IT in Asia Pacific, reporting to Florian Tinnus, Global Head of Corporate IT.
With APAC outpacing the rest of the world in terms of travel spend growth, Frederic will further increase Amadeus’ regional focus on the segment through direct sales and channel partners, with a portfolio of online solutions and bundled GDS offerings.
The Asia-Pacific Team is part of Amadeus’ worldwide organisation for the corporations segment. Frederic leads a customer-centric regional team based in Singapore and soon to be expanded further across Asia Pacific.
Prior to his move to the region, Frederic has been part of the Amadeus family for a number of years as the Sales Director with Amadeus France. Prior to that, he worked for Air France-KLM where he held various positions in France and the UK, most recently as Head of Global Strategic Corporate Accounts.
7. Ponte goes up to the Topdeck
It’s the way of the travel industry – one day you’re working for one company and the next you’ve taken your experience and knowledge over to another.
The latest heavy hitter to make a big (and unexpected move) this week is Joe Ponte – the soon-to-be former General Manager of Global Sales and Marketing at Insider Journeys.
Ponte has accepted the role of Country General Manager for Asia Pacific at Topdeck where he’ll be in charge of leading the company’s APAC operations into the future and contribute to the company’s overall global direction.
8. Sabre veteran returns
He’s already been seen wining and dining key clients at some of Sydney’s finest restaurants, but Richard Morgan knows better than anyone else what it takes to lead travel tech company Sabre.
And it comes down to two key factors: experience (Morgan has over 25 years in the travel industry, and over 10 years working for Sabre) and a keen eye towards future growth.
Richard Morgan’s recent promotion to Regional Director will see him lead an expanded South Pacific team. He will oversee the Sabre Travel Network business in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia.
9. Warwick Le Lagon Resort & Spa’s new gals
Warwick Le Lagon Resort & Spa, Vanuatu is proud to announce two new appointments within the Sales & Marketing team.
Vara Natuilagilagi has been appointed as the new Director of Sales & Marketing. Having years of experience in resort sales and marketing at the InterContinental Fiji, she brings valuable insight to the Warwick Le Lagon team. Ms. Natuilagilagi will be responsible for overseeing the resort sales and marketing initiatives to maximise profitability and brand awareness of the resort.
Kate Griffiths has been appointed as Conference & Events Manager, with over 7 years experience in both Food & Beverage operations and Corporate and MICE Sales. Kate brings invaluable experience to the team after overseeing sales at the Stamford Plaza in Brisbane as Business Development Manager.
Mrs. Griffiths will be responsible for cultivating relationships and developing new business within the Corporate and MICE side of the resorts business.
