Tourism Malaysia
Amran ABD Rahman has been appointed as director for Tourism Malaysia. He started his stint with Tourism Malaysia in 1991. He was responsible for penetrating the Middle Eastern and Western European market for Malaysia Tourism in its early stages. He started out as the deputy director of Tourism Malaysia in London, then as a unit head for market intelligence at Tourism Malaysia headquarters, moving on to become the first director for Tourism Malaysia in Beijing.
Ministry of culture, government of India
The ministry of culture, government of India has nominated Sandeep Dayal as member of the council of the National Culture Fund (NCF) for a period from January 2013 to August 2015. Dayal has been in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry for around 30 years and worked in various capacities. He is presently an executive director with Le Passage to India Travel & Tours.
Visit Indonesia Tourism Office India
Shelly Chandhok has been appointed as the new country manager for Visit Indonesia Tourism Office (VITO) – India. She is based in Mumbai and has been associated with OM Tourism for the past four years. Prior to this, she was handling sales for western India for Indo-China Services. In her current profile she will head the VITO- India sales team and will be assisted by Mohammad Kaleem – trade sales executive (VITO) and Priyanka Kumar.
AirAsia India
AirAsia India’s board of directors has appointed Mittu Chandilya as chief executive officer. In his last role as principal and head of services – Asia Pacific at Egon Zehnder, he took leadership in the travel and hospitality segment where his primary focus was airlines and aviation. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics (Dean’s List) with a triple major from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, USA. He also has MBA degrees from INSEAD, France/Singapore and from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
AHS India
Rakhi Purohit has been appointed as regional director of revenue and distribution for Absolute Hotel Services India. She holds a Hotel Management Diploma degree from Mumbai and a post-graduate diploma in Management studies from London. She went on to complete her MBA from the University of Wales (London Campus). She joins Absolute with over 16 years industry experience, including more than five years in the United Kingdom. Her last assignment was at Lords Group of Hotels in the UK as cluster revenue manager.
Melbourne Convention Bureau
The Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) has appointed Jaclyn Weinstein to the new position of director of business development, North America. Weinstein’s appointment follows the engagement of Myriad Marketing as the organisation’s new representation agency for North America, announced in December last year as part of MCB’s new Strategic Business Plan. Weinstein will report to Julia Swanson, general manager, MCB Business Development and Bids at Myriad Marketing in New York.
Air Pacific/ Fiji Airways
Air Pacific, soon to be flying as Fiji Airways, has appointed Aubrey Swift, who currently serves as the airline’s chief commercial officer, as Acting CEO, while the search for a permanent chief executive officer to replace departing managing director & CEO Dave Pflieger is taken. Before joining Air Pacific, Swift served in senior commercial roles at British Airways, Virgin Blue and most recently at V Australia, where he helped design, launch and grow, that start-up carrier from Brisbane.
The Sanchaya on Bintan Island
Veteran hotelier Murlidhar Rao has been appointed as estate manager for The Sanchaya, a new hideaway property on Bintan island, slated to open in the second half of this year. As the estate manager, he will oversee The Sanchaya’s 19 individually designed villas and nine suites. Bintan island is located in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago, just 40 kms south of Singapore.
Pegasus Solutions
Pegasus Solutions has appointed John Kiszla as vice president, demand account management. Kiszla brings nearly two decades of hotel leadership to the role in which he will help drive room sales for Pegasus hotel clients by working directly with the demand community. He will also be managing a global team of account managers.
Temple Weiss has been appointed as chief financial officer. Most recently, Weiss served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of ACE Cash Express, in Irving, Tex. Prior to that, he was with LQ Management and La Quinta Corporation for more than 10 years. At La Quinta Corporation, he held various finance positions, ultimately serving as vice president, development.
Mark Swetman has been appointed as vice president, global sales, Americas, where he will assume leadership of the sales team serving North and South America. Swetman, who has more than two decades of experience in hotel sales, previously served as global director of sales for Open Hospitality, a division of Pegasus Solutions. Before joining Open Hospitality, the 20-year veteran was the complex director of sales and marketing for Hilton Hotels of Parsippany in New Jersey. He has also served as the regional director of sales and marketing for Dolce International Hotels & Resorts.