We’re so chuffed for all these industry movers and shakers we might just nip off to the pub and have a few arvo wines in their honour.

G Adventures welcomes two new global purpose specialists

Nikki Woodward

Newly representing G Adventures in Queensland and northern New South Wales is Nikki Woodward who is based in Brisbane, with Ben Goschnick taking up his role as global purpose specialist for New South Wales and ACT from Sydney.

As Woodward and Goschnick hit the road they will be armed with three brand new brochures designed to help agents sell G Adventures’ Classic, 18-to-Thirtysomethings and National Geographic Journeys travel styles.

Sean Martin, managing director for G Adventures in Australia, said the two are the perfect fit for our team with their existing passion for small-group adventures and changing lives through travel.

Woodward has previously travelled with G Adventures through Colombia and Cuba, citing Cuidad Perdida – the Lost City trek – in Colombia as a highlight, where she hiked through the jungle and slept in hammocks alongside the local Wiwa community.

After a two and a half year hiatus from sales, Goschnick is thrilled to be back doing what he loves – helping agents sell travel to adventurous and off-the-beaten-path destinations.

Carnival completes sales restructure to provide agent partners with ‘heavy duty support’

Ryan Taibel

A comprehensive sales restructure has been completed to better equip key cruise brands — P&O Cruises Australia, Holland America Line and Seabourn — to provide ‘heavy-duty support’ to travel agent partners across Australia.

Ryan Taibel, vice president of sales at Carnival Australia, said travel partners with businesses at the epicentre of cruise tourism would particularly benefit from the combined face-to-face and behind-the-scenes elements of the new sales structure.

As a result of the new arrangements, P&O Cruises Australia, Holland America Line and Seabourn will each have dedicated key account managers, including Christine Oliver and Helen Courias at Holland America Line and Anastasia Kotinidis and Jennifer Compton at Seabourn.

Angus Mackay remains key account manager for P&O Cruises Australia, which will continue investing in its sales team to ensure that it can best support its trade partners.

All of the key account managers, including Belinda Clark in New Zealand, will report to the head of sales Andrew Thwaites who has 15 years of experience upon which to draw in support of the sales team.

Dedicated Sales Support functions for the three brands will report to head of sales operations, Alex Pikardt, who has 12 years of sales experience with Carnival Australia.

The new arrangements also reflect the desire of Holland America Line and Seabourn to uncouple in order for each to take different commercial paths to grow in the region.

SkyTeam appoints Patrick Roux as new CEO and MD

Patrick Roux

SkyTeam has named Patrick Roux as its new CEO and managing director.

An industry veteran with more than 30 years’ experience, Roux joins SkyTeam from the Air France-KLM Group, where he spent the last 15 years working at executive levels across key roles covering strategic and operational leadership, most recently as senior vice president alliances. In this role he was responsible for overseeing the strategic partnership activities of Air France-KLM, including commercial offerings in different markets through more than 80 Joint Ventures and codeshare agreements.

Kristin Colvile, outgoing CEO and managing mirector of SkyTeam, whose 4-year term comes to an end, will be returning to Delta Air Lines. During her tenure, Colvile led a strategic transformation that saw SkyTeam develop industry-leading technology enabling 600M+ customers to seamlessly travel across SkyTeam airlines.

She also steered SkyTeam through the pandemic including the introduction of SkyCare&Protect, a series of personal health safety measures aligned across the alliance. Most recently Kristin has leveraged the value of the alliance platform to focus on sustainability, launching the first SkyTeam Sustainable Flight Challenge. Her term comes to an end as SkyTeam welcomes Virgin Atlantic as its first new member in 8 years.

Accommodation Association appoints interim CEO

The Accommodation Association of Australia (AAoA) today announced Michael Johnson will be supporting the existing team as interim CEO in the lead-up to the proposed amalgamation with Tourism Accommodation Australia expected to be completed mid-2023.

This follows last month’s key milestone of both the Accommodation Association Council and Australian Hotels Association Board separately agreeing the Scheme of Amalgamation to create the new, united peak body, Accommodation Australia, subject to a member vote and a couple of regulatory steps.

Recruitment for the inaugural CEO role for Accommodation Australia is already underway.

Hurtigruten Group announces key appointments to APAC team

Marisa Jones

Hurtigruten Expeditions has added two key recruits to its Asia-Pacific operations – Amber Wilson who joined the company earlier this month as Hurtigruten’s regional sales director and Marisa Jones who stepped into the role of marketing manager in late September.

Both Wilson and Jones have a proven track record of delivering impressive results, and are expected to further strengthen Hurtigruten’s highly successful sales and marketing team, working alongside Asia-Pacific marketing director, Joel Victoria.

EXO Travel appoints first-ever chief purpose officer

EXO Travel has recently announced the promotion of Alexandra Michat to the newly-created role of chief purpose officer (CPO).

Michat has been with EXO for eight years and was previously the group director of sustainability and director of EXO Foundation.

In her new role, and as part of the company’s senior leadership team, Michat is fully-empowered to drive EXO’s purpose and ensure the company continues on a positive path.

Michat will continue to work with the EXO Foundation and external partners to establish more shared value project opportunities, while also working to establish EXO as B-Corp.

As a Destination Management Company (DMC), EXO works at ground level on a daily basis to ensure that tourism does not come at the expense of helping local communities and protecting the planet and that travel can enrich and improve lives.

Radisson Hotel Group appoints new Australasia MD

Lachlan Hoswell

Radisson Hotel Group has announced the appointment of Lachlan Hoswell as its new managing director for Australasia.

In his new role, Hoswell will spearhead Radisson Hotel Group’s growth in the region, a role that will see him leverage on his experience in the hospitality industry which spans more than two decades.

Prior to joining the Group, Hoswell held leadership roles in APVC Holdings Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Accor Hospitality, as well as senior positions at Wyndham Vacation Resorts South Pacific, and Daikyo Australia.

Most recently, he held the position of company director, general counsel and commercial officer of Minor Hotels Australia and New Zealand.

Hoswell will be based in the recently established Australian Business Unit in Sydney.

The Anam Group announces three senior recruitments

Laurent Myter

The Anam Group has called on Laurent Myter to spearhead its expansion and oversee its growing number of properties.

The group has also named Martin Koerner, who has a substantial background in sales and marketing, as group commercial director.

Ye Chang Sheng (Peter), who has worked for the group’s first resort Anam Cam Ranh since its 2017 debut, has been promoted to resort manager of the group’s second property, Anam Mui Ne, due to celebrate its grand opening in January

Myter comes to the group after working at YTL Hotels for 26 years, of which 23 years were based in Malaysia where he became YTL’s ‘executive vice president operations resorts’ responsible for 12 hotels and resorts in Southeast Asia and France.

He has been an executive director and the president of Small Luxury Hotels of the World’s International Advisory Board of Hoteliers for three years and two years respectively.

StayWell announces new global director of human resources, training & compliance

Frances Smith

StayWell Holdings has appointed Frances Smith as global director of human resources, training & compliance

With over 30 years of human resources management experience, Smith has proven success in building high-performing teams and improving company effectiveness.

Her extensive human resources management experience includes working with major brands such as Intercontinental Hotels Group, Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, and Mantra Group.

Smith’ extensive experience in the Middle East, Africa and Asia as a result of her time at Movenpick Hotels & Resorts included governing all aspects of human resources functions for 58 hotels.

Bringing her impressive experiences to the global StayWell family, Smith will be responsible for the group’s human resources strategy including building high-performing team and enhancing employee satisfaction for all properties.

Featured image: Amber Wilson, Hurtigruten’s new regional sales director