Latest industry appointments

BRUCE HANNA has been appointed country manager for Saudi Arabia at Travelport. Hanna – based in Jeddah – takes over from Ghulam Al Balooshi, who has been acting as interim general manager of Travelport in the Kingdom since September 2012.  He brings with him over 20 years’ experience with Travelport.  In his new role, Hanna is responsible for all Galileo-related commercial activity in the Kingdom, which includes managing existing customer relationships and new business opportunities.

SARA ALI has been appointed director of human resources at Troon Golf Abu Dhabi.  She will oversee all associates and human resource processes for Abu Dhabi Golf Club and Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. In her role, Sara will be responsible for all associates resourcing, training and development at two of the golf clubs.

FAROOQ PAYARA has been promoted to director of sales and revenue at Ramada Downtown Dubai. As the hotel’s former revenue and e-commerce manager, Payara is now tasked with planning and execution of sales strategies to maximise revenue, managing sales activities, and analysis of sales and financial data. He is also responsible for ensuring top-quality customer service including interaction with guests, and building relationships with key stakeholders.

GERHARD HECKER has been appointed general manager at Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai. In his new capacity, he will oversee all daily operations of the 492 hotel rooms, serviced apartments and private residences. He moved to Dubai from Shangri-La Hotel, Jakarta, where he also held the position of general manager.

DAVID EDWARDS has been appointed executive vice president to lead the growing business of the corporate jet arm – Qatar Executive. He will be responsible for guiding all strategic, commercial and operational aspects of the airline’s private jet division. In his new role, Edwards will focus on strengthening the division’s footprint in existing key markets such as Middle East, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), but also forge ahead in emerging markets of Africa and Asia.

ROBERTO HLACA has been appointed vice president – sales, marketing & strategy for Qatar Executive. In his new role, Hlaca will re-shape Qatar Executive’s sales and marketing strategies by launching new business initiatives and developing new growth markets to meet the company’s set targets. Prior to his new role at Qatar Executive, Hlaca was vice president, on demand sales at Vistajet and responsible for spearheading the company’s commercial growth.

CAPTAIN PETER RESTING has been appointed vice president – flight operations at Qatar Executive. In his new role Resting’s primary responsibility is to ensure the safe operation of Qatar Executive’s aircraft. This also includes scheduling and recruiting of Flight Deck Crew. Resting’s background includes director of flight operations for Execujet Europe.

RUPERT HOGG has been appointed chief operating officer at Cathay Pacific. He will take on the position with effect from March 2014. Hogg will at the same time become a director of Cathay Pacific. He takes over in the role from Ivan Chu, who, as announced in August 2013, will become Cathay Pacific’s chief executive.

SHADI KARAMEH has been appointed director of sales and marketing at Grand Millennium Dubai. He joins the hotel from the Dubai sales office of the Raffles Praslin – Seychelles where he was the assistant director of sales for two years.