New roles for the industry’s movers and shakers
Amadeus
Amadeus has appointed Rajiv Rajian as global head of business travel. Rajian has 20 years of travel industry expertise, with a strong track record in business travel, product marketing, strategy and mergers and acquisitions. In his most recent role, Rajian was responsible for all commercial activities for Sabre Travel Network, incorporating both global and corporate customers, as vice president, global sales and account management. Before that, Rajian spent time as vice president, product marketing, also at Sabre, with worldwide responsibility for all points of sale and platform solutions.
Visit Florida
Visit Florida has announced the appointment of Ken Lawson as its new president and CEO. The announcement was made following an unanimous vote of the board of directors during a meeting in Orlando. Lawson currently serves as the secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). He is a native Floridian and former US Marine Corps Judge Advocate General and has spent 12 years serving in numerous regulatory positions, including his most recent work overseeing among other divisions – restaurants, hotels and vacation rentals with DBPR. During his six-year tenure with DBPR, Lawson managed a team of 1,600 employees charged with licensing and regulating more than one million businesses and professionals throughout the state.
SITA
SITA has appointed Ilya Gutlin as president of its Air Travel Solutions division. Gutlin will lead a global team in the development and delivery of products and services to SITA’s 2800 airline, airport and government customers. Part of this division includes hundreds of software developers located across the world who together design and support mission-critical systems for the world’s air transport industry. She previously held the role of SITA’s president for Asia Pacific and drove growth and promoted innovation with SITA’s customers across the region.
SITA has also appointed Sumesh Patel as president for Asia Pacific. As a member of the senior leadership team reporting directly to SlTA’s CEO, Patel will be responsible for developing and driving the strategic direction for SITA in the region. Prior to this role, Patel was vice president of business management, Asia Pacific where he sustained revenues and grew SITA’s business in Asia Pacific.
Celebrity Cruises
Celebrity Cruises has appointed Apple Woo as the new head of sales and marketing for the Asia region. Woo has sales and marketing experience with luxury hospitality brands such as Jumeirah and Mandarin Oriental. She will report to Jo Rzymowska, Celebrity Cruises’ recently appointed vice president and managing director, Asia.
Sabre
Sabre has appointed Frank Trampert as managing director and chief commercial officer of its hospitality business in Asia Pacific. In this role, Trampert will be responsible for the financial performance, customer engagement and overall growth of Sabre’s hospitality business across the region. Trampert has experience in both hospitality operations and technology in Asia Pacific including leadership positions with Wyndham Hotel Group in Hong Kong, Carlson Hotels across four continents, Brand Karma in Singapore, and most recently as the CEO for the Tune Hotel Group in Malaysia.
Diethelm Travel Singapore
Diethelm Travel Singapore has appointed Yvonne Wong as business consultant and Judy Lum as general manager. Lum began her career as a tour guide before moving to Holiday Tours & Travel where she worked in operations, as well as product and business development. Whereas, Wong first started working with Holiday Tours & Travel including roles in administration, ticketing and inbound. In the 1990s, she moved to Jakarta to manage the launch of a new Holiday Tours & Travel office, which she then headed for five years. She returned to Singapore in 2000 as the general manager of Tour East Singapore where she was responsible for the overall business activities, day-to-day operations and performance of the company.
AccorHotels
Rohit Chopra has been appointed as regional director of sales for AccorHotels India. In his new role, Chopra will be responsible for expanding the proposed sales structure in the country by developing various global sales offices in India. He will also contribute to AccorHotels’ global sales network, goals and objectives and drive promotion of AccorHotels’ brands, sales and marketing programmes. Chopra’s career as a hotelier spans over two decades, including experience in working with global hospitality leaders such as IHG, Marriott and Hyatt in leadership roles.