These industry movers and shakers are absolutely killing it this week! In their careers, and in the industry dance comp we held. Ok, WISH we held.

New sales and marketing manager appointed by TFE Hotels to lacuna the Calile Hotel

TFE Hotels has strengthened its leadership team by appointing Kristie Mancell as Sales and Marketing Manager of Brisbane’s most exciting new address, The Calile Hotel, which is now taking bookings for its September opening.

Mancell brings a wealth of knowledge to the TFE Hotels team with 12 years of five-star hotel experience in a sales and marketing capacity. Her most recent role as PR and Marketing Manager at Sofitel Brisbane Central saw Mancell develop hotel partnerships with multiple cultural, lifestyle and entertainment brands locally and nationally.

Mancell will be a key player in positioning The Calile Hotel as Brisbane’s most desirable destination. As a born and bred Brisbanite, Mancell has the knowledge and expertise of the city to ensure The Calile Hotel appeals to locals seeking a sophisticated locale, as well as interstate and international visitors.

The Calile Hotel will soon open its doors as Australia’s first urban resort, celebrating a subtropical climate combined with city streetscape. Guests will have the freedom to explore the latest in fashion, cocktail bars, and award-winning restaurants within the hotel itself and the wider James Street precinct. The building is designed by Brisbane architects Richards & Spence, whose creations draw on landscaped facades, as they do along James Street.

Vietnam’s first Radisson Blu Resort announces Senior appointment

A seasoned hospitality professional with over 25 years of experience in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand has been appointed as Radisson Blu Resort Phu Quoc’s director of commercial. In her new role, Myla Caceres will oversee sales, marketing, reservations and revenue at the soon-to-open resort on Phu Quoc’s northwest coast.

Before joining the property’s pre-opening team, Manila-born Caceres worked as Ascott International Group’s Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing in Thailand, overseeing 11 properties.

She has held director of sales and marketing roles at several leading hotels in Thailand, including the Dusit Thani and the Crowne Plaza in Bangkok, as well as two upscale resorts on the coast of Vietnam, including a Swiss-Belhotel.

Caceres earned Bachelor of Science in hotel and restaurant management from Manila’s La Consolacion College before obtaining a Master of Communication Arts in public relations with Bangkok University.

COMO Hotels and Resorts announces appointment of new cluster director of sales and marketing, Maldives

COMO Hotels and Resorts, Singapore-based luxury hotel group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Fadzlon Bakar as Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing for the Maldives.

Fadzlon’s experience in the luxury travel industry includes three years with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, and 16 years with Four Seasons. She left Four Seasons to look after the Alila Villas Soori in West Bali, which underwent a rebranding to become The Soori Bali.

She was instrumental in the success of this rebrand. Fadzlon will be joining us directly from Bali.

Gate 7 retains Visit California, appoints new staff members

Gate 7 has evolved its service offerings which now include social media management and advertising, consumer partnerships and content development, to supplement the team’s expertise in traditional travel trade marketing and public relations.

A number of staff appointments have been announced to cater to the agency’s expansion and evolution of service offerings. This includes three newly-created roles – General Manager, Director of Events and Director of Public Relations and Content – in addition to a fresh Visit California key account team.

Tristan Freedman has been appointed General Manager following a ten year tenure at the agency in a number of senior roles. Lisa Dunn, previously Director of Operations, has been named Director of Events to cater to the increasing demand for destination specific events and in-market visits from both existing and new clients. Sophie Taylor returns from maternity leave into a promotion as the Director of Public Relations and Content. She has held public relations positions at Gate 7 for over five years.

Within Gate 7’s Visit California team, Rob Dempsey, formerly the agency’s Director of Marketing and Communications, has been named Account Director. Sarah Runnacles and Max Higgins have been welcomed to the team as Senior PR and Content Manager and Social Media Coordinator respectively. Melanie Bednall, Travel Trade Manager will continue to drive trade marketing efforts for Visit California.

First NTIA, now WA for Bench Africa

Fresh off the back of their NTIA win for Best Specialty Wholesaler win, Bench Africa have announced another win for their WA/NT and SA based agents. Fortunate to be in a position to be able to hire the best of the African industry and just a few months after hiring respected expert Siobhan Pemberton to run their brand in Vic/Tas, Bench have announced ex Adventure World award winner Eric Vos has joined their brand.

Vos comes from a long history of African travel planning, having worked for New Horizons and Adventure World and is very well respected in the industry.

“I’ve been looking for a way to work with Bench for a long time,” says Vos.

With the introduction of Bench’s new remote office system, he becomes the first non-Sydney based reservations expert in the company. This allows central and western states to have an expert available the same hours as they are, rather than being tied to the trading hours of the east coast.

Scenic hits the road with bigger sales force

With the recent appointment of five new team members Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours hits the road this month with its brand new sales team – bigger and better than ever! The 18 person strong sales team will cover Australia and New Zealand from top to bottom representing the complete portfolio of Scenic Group brands.

“The new team is focussed on providing better support for agents across Australia with a strong business development focus to assist agents in building new business opportunities and growth through the Scenic portfolio of products,” said Rob Kalemba, Direct of Sales and Agent Programs for Scenic.

“We have also made the strategic decision to combine the Evergreen and Scenic sales teams for the first time to provide a single point of contact for our portfolio of luxury cruises and tours.

• Victoria/Tasmania – Jaron Zurvos, Kate Foster, Kate Doherty, Zena Dalton
• New South Wales/ACT – Amanda Todd, Alicia Vincent, Cherrie Bowman, Cathy Page
• Queensland/Northern NSW – Amanda Heron, Karen Mackay, Sara Puglia
• Western Australia – Katy Oxter, Michelle Jacques
• SA/NT – Regan Grainger, Damien Wolf
• New Zealand – Karyn Blenkiron, Tracey Brennan