Flavour of the Week: SIA’s senior management changes, Accor’s new comms director + MORE!

Flavour of the Week: SIA’s senior management changes, Accor’s new comms director + MORE!

Here’s a wrap of all the latest movers and shakers in the industry, courtesy of your pals at Travel Weekly.

Singapore Airlines changes up senior management

Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) has announced several senior management appointments, all effective 1 April 2020.

Mak Swee Wah (pictured above), executive vice president of commercial, will assume the post of executive vice president of operations. He will be responsible for SIA’s cabin crew, customer services and operations, engineering, and flight operations divisions.

Lee Lik Hsin, CEO of low-cost carrier Scoot, will return to SIA and be promoted to executive vice president of commercial. He will be responsible for the cargo, customer experience, marketing planning, and sales and marketing divisions, as well as the sales regions.

Tan Kai Ping, senior vice president of marketing planning, will be promoted to executive vice president of finance and strategy. In his new role, he will oversee the corporate planning and finance divisions.

Mak, Lee and Tan will all report directly to SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong.

Ng Chin Hwee, executive vice president of human resources and operations, will take early retirement from SIA on 31 March 2020. He will join SIA’s engineering company as CEO on 1 April 2020.

Campbell Wilson, senior vice president of sales and marketing, will be appointed CEO of SIA’s fully-owned subsidiary, Scoot.

Accor appoints new Pacific comms director

Accor has appointed Claire Haigh as its new director of communications for the Pacific region.

For the past five years, Haigh was the global communications director for Pernod Ricard’s winemaking division and its portfolio of champagnes, spirits and wines in Australia and New Zealand.

In her new role, Haigh will lead communications for Accor Pacific’s apartment, hotel and resorts portfolio which includes Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Mantra, Peppers, Art Series, Swissotel, and Ibis, along with premium membership platform Accor Vacation Club, across Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, and Fiji.

Haigh will also direct communications for Accor’s corporate social responsibility initiatives and the group’s newly launched global lifestyle loyalty program, Accor Live Limitless.

Qantas secretary resigns, as two more join

Following the resignation of Michaela May as company secretary, Qantas has announced the appointment of Benjamin Elliott and Nicole Malone as company secretaries.

The new appointments mean Elliott and Malone are now nominated as additional persons responsible for communication with the ASX in regards to listing rule matters.

Wyndham Resort Denarau Island appoints new GM

Wyndham Destinations Asia Pacific has announced the appointment of Kaydee George to the role of general manager at its flagship Fiji resort, Club Wyndham Denarau Island.

The multi-award-winning 201-apartment beachfront property is one of the largest and most popular resorts in Club Wyndham South Pacific – the region’s largest timeshare club with close to 60,000 members.

George joins Club Wyndham Denarau Island after almost eight years tenure with Wyndham, most recently as area general manager for the Gold Coast, based at Wyndham Surfers Paradise.

StayWell hires new development director for APAC

StayWell has announced the appointment of Jip Van Driest as its new director of development for the Asia-Pacific region following a global search.

Van Driest joins StayWell’s development team at its corporate head office in Sydney, bringing with her more than 10 years’ experience with hotel financial management companies.

She has global operational experience with hotel companies including Taj Resort and Palaces and InterContinental Hotels Group, and more recently worked at CBRE and JLL with hotel investors across the world.

Timothy Palmer joins Fairmont Royal Pavilion as executive chef

Fairmont Royal Pavilion, Barbados has appointed Timothy Palmer as executive chef, effective 6 February 2020.

Palmer will oversee the culinary operations of Fairmont Royal Pavilion’s three restaurants and in-room dining.

He brings 20 years of progressive experience in the food and beverage industry, predominantly with the Fairmont brand, where he started his career in hospitality with Fairmont Jasper Lodge in 2000.

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