Flavour of the week: Khiri Travel’s executive shake-up, Best Western appoints national sales boss + more!

Flavour of the week: Khiri Travel’s executive shake-up, Best Western appoints national sales boss + more!
By Christian Fleetwood


Short, sharp and shiny, this edition of Flavour of the Week is filled with some top-notch movers and shakers, as well as a heartfelt congratulations to a new face in the travel industry. Enjoy!

Khiri Travel announces executive changes

Khiri Travel Announces Executive Changes collage

(L to R) Herman Hoven, Keagan Willemsen, Willem Niemeijer, Mark Remijan, and Richard Brouwer.

Khiri Travel has announced several senior executive changes.

Effective 1 July, Herman Hoven will become the new chief executive officer of Khiri Travel. Hoven is currently general manager of Khiri Travel Indonesia. He has been with Khiri for five years.

Current Khiri Travel CEO, the founder of the company, Willem Niemeijer, will become chairman – a non-operational responsibility, which will allow him to focus full time on his current role as CEO of YAANA Ventures, Khiri’s parent company.

Also on 1 July, Keagan Willemsen will become chief financial officer for Khiri Travel. He has been Khiri Travel’s internal efficiency czar for over a year.

Richard Brouwer will continue as chief commercial officer of Khiri Travel, which was founded by Niemeijer in 1993 and now has over 200 staff in 17 offices in seven countries in Asia.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts appoints Philip Hancock as national sales manager

New national sales manager Philip Hancock

New national sales manager Philip Hancock

Best Western Hotels & Resorts has appointed Philip Hancock as national sales manager, responsible for managing national Travel Management Company (TMC) relationships, national corporate accounts and other key partnerships.

Hancock has worked in a number of senior management roles across the travel industry, including as strategic account manager at Travelport, director of account management at Egencia and most recently as head of partnerships for Australia at Hotelbeds.

Hancock’s appointment follows that of Elizabeth Beresneva, who recently joined Best Western Hotels & Resorts as senior revenue manager, after roles with Amadeus IT, lecturing at the Hotel School, Sydney (Southern Cross University) and the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel.

Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort names new GM

Manuel Ferriol

New general manager Manuel Ferriol

A seasoned professional with substantial luxury hospitality experience in Europe and Asia has been appointed to the helm of the new five-star Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort.

Spanish-born Manuel Ferriol is spearheading the opening of the 17-hectare beachfront property at Ho Tram, a two-hour drive from Vietnam’s biggest metropolis Ho Chi Minh City.

Ferriol has worked for Meliá Hotels and Resorts for the past 15 years, steadily rising through the ranks before becoming an acting resident manager at Gran Meliá Fenix in Madrid, and resident manager at TRYP Palma Bellver By Melia in Mallorca.

In 2014, he was appointed director of operations at Meliá Hanoi, the Spanish group’s flagship hotel in Vietnam.

After two years at Meliá Hanoi, he was promoted to general manager at Meliá Danang.

His success establishing the then-newly opened Meliá Danang, combined with his experience managing leisure and business hotels in Vietnam, resulted in his appointment as the general manager of Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort.

 

TAFE NSW student Sophie Scriven lands job of her dreams at iTravel

Sophie Scriven 1

Doing the hard yards has landed a TAFE NSW Tourism student her first gig in travel.

Sophie Scriven has secured the job of her dreams at iTravel in Muswellbook after completing a Certificate III in Tourism with TAFE Digital, while completing her HSC.

As part of her school-based traineeship, she secured a spot with iTravel in Muswellbrook to work part-time with the team.

Scriven plans to go mobile and travel New Zealand after she’s worked for a few years.

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