New roles for the industry’s movers and shakers
Department of Tourism, Goa
Sanjeev C Gauns Dessai has taken over as the new director of Goa’s Department of Tourism. In his new role, Dessai will oversee the department’s role in the maintenance of the state’s beach cleanliness and safety, tourist policing, master plan and other tourism policies. Dessai belongs to the Goa civil service cadre and was the deputy collector (revenue), North Goa, before his promotion to senior scale and appointment as the new director of tourism.Dessai was promoted to senior scale of the GCS on November 27, 2015. He was inducted in the GCS junior scale in 2004 and was the deputy collector (revenue), South Goa as well.
India Convention Promotion Bureau
Suman Billa has been elected as the chairman of India Convention Promotion Bureau for 2015-17. Billa also holds the post of joint secretary, tourism, Government of India. A 1996 batch IAS officer, Billa studied at the Madras Christian College, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and has been a British Chevening Gurukula Scholar at the London School of Economics. Billa has served as sub collector, Devikulam, in Idukki District; director of civil supplies; director of Kerala Tourism and district collector, Palakkad. He has also served as private secretary to the ministers of state for External Affairs and Defence.
Jet Airways
Amit Agarwal has been appointed as the chief financial officer of Jet Airways. As CFO, Agarwal will be responsible for all financial and fiscal management aspects of the company’s business. He will join the operating committee that has been tasked by the board of directors to lead the airline’s growth and strategy. Agarwal has been a chartered accountant with more than 24 years of experience having held positions in India, Europe and North America.
Republic of Cyprus, Maharashtra
Rana Kapoor, managing director and CEO, YES Bank, has been appointed as the consul general of the Republic of Cyprus, Maharashtra. The promotion of Kapoor as the consul general is expected to help strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two nations. HE Demetrios A Theophylactou, high commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, made the announcement during his recent visit to Mumbai. Kapoor has been the consul for the Republic of Cyprus since 2002.
Amadeus
Amadeus has appointed Frederic Saunir as head of corporate IT in Asia Pacific, reporting to Florian Tinnus, global head of corporate IT. Saunir will be further increasing Amadeus’ regional focus on the segment through direct sales and channel partners, with a portfolio of online solutions and bundled GDS offerings. Prior to his move to the region, he has been a part of Amadeus for a number of years as the sales director with Amadeus France. Prior to that, he worked for Air France-KLM where he held various positions in France and the UK, most recently as head of global strategic corporate accounts.
SITAOnAir
David Lavorel, currently SITA’s senior vice president for corporate development and CEO office, has been appointed as CEO, SITAOnAir, effective January 1, 2016. Lavorel joined SITA in 2000 holding pivotal roles as head of the France Telecom Partnership management and as vice president – mergers and acquisitions, before being appointed as senior vice president for corporate development and CEO office in 2012.
Alitalia
Alitalia has appointed Cramer Ball as a member of its board of directors, designated to be appointed as CEO from early March 2016. Ball has more than 20 years of aviation experience. He has served as CEO of Jet Airways and Air Seychelles. As CEO of Jet Airways, he led the Mumbai-based airline to reduce substantial losses. Prior to this, Ball was regional general manager – Southeast Asia for Etihad Airways based in Bangkok, and before that he was general manager – Australia and New Zealand for the UAE’s national airline based in Sydney. He performed a similar job for Gulf Air and he was also manager of strategic corporate programmes for Qantas and commercial sales manager for Ansett Australia.
Kuoni Group
Dhiren Savla, chief information officer (CIO), VFS Global, and senior vice president and head of Global IT, has been appointed as group CIO of Kuoni Group. In this role, Savla will be based in Dubai and will also continue his current VFS Global role. Between 2004 and 2010, Savla worked as chief technology officer and later as CIO for Kuoni India and South Asia, including VFS Global. From 2011 until January 2012, he also held the responsibility for emerging markets for Kuoni’s travel businesses in addition to being CIO of VFS Global.
Fiji Airways Group
Rajesh Punja, director, Punja Group of Companies and Shaheen Ali, permanent secretary for industry, trade and tourism have been appointed as chairmain and director of Fiji Airways Group respectively. Punja and Ali will replace the current chairman and director, Nalin Patel and Stefan Pichler. The appointments are a part of the changes in the company’s board of directors. The three existing board directors who will continue for another term are Aslam Khan, retired executive; Sharvada Sharma, solicitor general; and Andre Viljoen, managing director and CEO.
Air Canada Leisure Group
Craig Landry, currently vice president of marketing, Air Canada, has been appointed as president of Air Canada Leisure Group. In his new position, Landry will be responsible for the integrated leisure group, which consists of the Air Canada Vacations tour operator business and the leisure airline Air Canada rouge. Landry was appointed vice president, marketing at Air Canada in August, 2010. Prior to that, he was senior vice president, commercial, Aeroplan Canada, Air Canada’s loyalty reward programme, and later senior vice president, corporate development for Groupe Aeroplan. He began his airline career at Air Canada in 1994 where he held various positions primarily in pricing, yield management and network planning.
Emirates Holidays
Emirates Holidays, the tour-operating arm of Emirates airline, has appointed Robin Parry as vice president. In his new role, Parry will oversee the company’s financial growth and performance for operations in 37 countries around the world, including the company’s hub market, in the UAE. An industry veteran, Parry has 25 years of experience in travel and tourism. Before joining Emirates Holidays, he spent five years in management positions at Gold Medal Travel Group as interim managing director, and marketing, product and commercial director. During his time at the company, Parry oversaw the firm’s transition of ownership from Thomas Cook to dnata, and also led the company to consistent year-on-year profit growth.
Nordic Aviation Capital
Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) has appointed Søren M Overgaard as CEO. Overgaard has played a key role within NAC’s senior management team for the past three years, joining in 2012 as chief financial officer. He previously held senior positions with blue chip transportation companies, the AP Moller Group, Maersk and Damco Europe. Overgaard succeeds Kim Graven-Nielsen.