The latest industry appointments

Justin Pearson has been named as the new head of sales and marketing at The Cruise Portfolio. Pearson will take over the role on 14 April from Ray Steward and will be responsible for promoting Crystal Cruises, Paul Gauguin Cruises, Lindblad Expeditions, Windstar Cruises and Tauck in the UK. His experience includes time at Cunard, P&O, Princess and Carnival UK.

Jayne O’Brien has been appointed senior vice president of global brands at InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). O’Brien will take up the role on 24 March to oversee brand vision and strategy for the group’s brands and joins from being chief marketing officer at the Regus Group. O’Brien spent 18 years at British Airways.

Richard Forde has been announced as the new retail sales manager at Newmarket Holidays. Forde has been with Newmarket for four years, most recently as agency sales manager with Travelscope. He plans to expand his team with a sales executive for the south of England.

Paul Hardingham has been promoted to strategic development director at Hoseasons. Hardingham will develop new specialist products and oversee growth of its lodge and boating portfolio. In addition Anthony Reilly has joined Hoseasons as marketing director. Reilly will be responsible for marketing, travel trade and e-commerce, having previously worked at Aviva, Mazda, Autoglass and Jack Daniels.

Tom Dumbrell has joined Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines as new area sales executive. Covering central, Home Counties and East Anglia, Dumbrell will work close with agents and organisations with sales, marketing, training and promotional activities. He joins the cruise line from Capita in Lancashire but has previously been B2B group sales team leader for STA in Liverpool and was a reservations supervisor at Fred. Olsen for three years.

Martin Clubbe has been named general manager of The Gainsborough Bath Spa. Clubbe will lead the hotel as is gears up to open this summer and has previously spent five years at The Macdonald Bath Spa Hotel. Clubbe also revitalised the Manor House Hotel & Golf Club in Castle Coombe.

Gareth Caldecott has joined Rocco Forte Hotels as chief financial officer. Caldecott joins the hotel group from the De Vere Group where he was group finance director and also has experience from time with Westmont Hospitality Group and InterContinental. In addition Martin Elsner has been made vice president operations at Rocco Forte. He is also responsible for city centre hotels including The Balmoral, Edinburgh; Brown’s, London and The Lowry, Manchester.

Ivan Artolli has been appointed as managing director of the Verdura Golf and Spa Resort in Sicily. Currently operations director UK, Belgium and Eastern Europe at Rocco Forte Hotels, Artolli will lead the construction, sale and operation of the resort’s 87 villas.

Warren Dix has joined Hillgate Travel as director of sales and marketing. Dix joins Hillgate from BCD Travel where he was head of sales UK & Ireland since 2008. He will lead a team of 10 at Hillgate dedicated to business development and sales.