The latest industry appointments

GEOFF BALLOTTI will become the new president & CEO of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, following the departure of Eric Danziger at the end of March. Ballotti joined Wyndham in 2008 and currently serves as president & CEO of the company’s timeshare exchange and vacation rental division.

ANTHONY ROSS has been named as the Preferred Hotel Group’s new executive vice president for Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa. Bringing more than 25 years’ hospitality experience to the group, Ross most recently served as vice president of operations for Marco Polo Hotels.

BEDE BARRY has been appointed general manager of the Conrad Macao, Cotai Central. Originally from Australia, Barry has more than 25 years’ hospitality experience, including spells in Europe and Southeast Asia. Previously he worked for Hyatt in Tokyo, Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

JOHN SJOSTEDT has been appointed general manager of two of Centara Hotels & Resorts’ properties in Pattaya – the Centara Pattaya Hotel and Centara Nova Hotel & Spa Pattaya. Sjostedt started his career with Centara eight years ago and has served as GM at several hotels in Thailand.

LEW HARASYMIW has become the new director of connectivity solutions for TripAdvisor. In the new role, Harasymiw will oversee development of new direct connect solutions, such as TripConnect. He arrives at the company from Sabre Hospitality, where he served as director of interface solutions.

TAIEB JOULAK has been appointed hotel manager of the W Taipei. TJ, as he is better known, began his career with Starwood Hotels in 2002 with the Sheraton Hotel & Towers Tunis, and has since worked at W and Luxury Collection hotels in Doha, Istanbul, Bali and Athens.

FOONG-HAR MOO has been announced as Radius Travel’s new global supplier relations director in Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Ms Moo joins Radius having had previous sales and account management spells with companies including BCD Travel, Pegasus Solutions and Travelport.

AMY LINGGA has been announced as the new director of sales at the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel in Bali. The move marks a promotion for Ms Lingga, who started her career at the luxury resort in 2007 as PR executive. She then advanced to sales manager and later, senior sales manager.

CHARIS YIM has joined the InterContinental Hong Kong as senior director of events. Ms Yim brings more than 19 years of experience to the new role. Prior to joining IHG, she spent more than 11 years with the Peninsula Hong Kong, serving as director of sales from 2007 to 2013.

EDWARD CHEN has appointed to recruit more North Asian delegates for the Australian luxury travel event, Luxperience 2014. Chen, who has 20 years of destination marketing experience, will be tasked with driving exhibitor and visitor numbers from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea.