New Appointments

BILL KEFFER has been appointed general manager at JW Marriott Marquis. He brings with him managerial expertise spanning 25 years across Marriott International.

STEPHANE SIMOND has been appointed executive chef at Alila Villas Uluwatu. He is very ‘traditionally French’ as a chef but has a great love for Asian food. Simond utilises his past experience to develop my own unique signature food style.

ABDELRAHMAN ABDULLAH AL MADHLOUM AL SUWAIDI has been appointed general manager for Cyprus at Etihad Airways. Al Suwaidi will lead further development of the airline’s commercial strategy in Cyprus, ensuring continued business success in the eastern Mediterranean region.

RICK ALLEN has been appointed senior vice president operations at Etihad Airways. He joins the airline from Air Canada and will be responsible for flight operations, guest services, crew resources, operations logistics, and operations standards. Allen will assume responsibility as flight operations post holder this the summer.

CHRIS YOULTEN has been appointed to senior vice president airport and network operations, reporting to the chief operating officer. He was formerly vice president network operations, at Etihad Airways.

ANDREW WARD will be acting in the new position of senior vice president marketing, following his role as vice president marketing, reporting to the chief operating officer, when appointed. Until then he will report to the chief commercial officer.  

FIONA MORRISSON has been appointed vice president guest experience Midfield Terminal. In this new position, Fiona will design and support delivery of guest experience for the Midfield Terminal.

CALUM LAMING has been appointed vice president guest experience. He returns to Etihad Airways having held an executive position of general manager customer experience in Air New Zealand since March 2013, reporting directly to the chief marketing and customer officer. Calum was previously head of guest experience at Etihad Airways.

ANTHONY TYLER has been appointed general manager at Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh. He brings with him 20 years of experience across the hospitality industry. Tyler replaces Greg Pirkle who moves to Bahrain to lead pre-opening team at Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay as general manager of the new property, which is expected to open its doors in the last quarter of 2014.

AMARTYA CHAKRABORTY has been appointed executive housekeeper at Ramada Downtown Dubai. He moved to the Gulf last year to gain international experience, and now takes over the housekeeping department at the Ramada Downtown Dubai.

VANESSA CHINOPOULOU has been appointed cluster marketing manager of Bin Majid Hotels & Resorts. She will lead daily marketing operations of Bin Majid Hotels & Resorts, as well as oversee the group’s properties in the region. These include Beach Hotel, Acacia Hotel, Beach Resort, Mangrove Hotel in RAK and Nehal Hotel in Abu Dhabi. There are also two more hotels coming soon later this year.

LINDA LEWIS has been promoted to regional director of sales Dubai and MEASA at Jumeirah Group. Lewis has held senior global sales roles with InterContinental Hotel Group, Thistle and Zabeel Investments. Prior to her new appointment, Linda was Jumeirah’s Global Director of Strategic Partnerships and Sales Excellence.

SHAF BUTT has been promoted to the new regional director of marketing for Dubai and MEASA at Jumeirah Group. He joined the Jumeirah Group in October 2007 and started with rooms marketing at Madinat Jumeirah. Most recently he has acted as director of marketing and communications at Jumeirah Beach Hotel. 

MARIEKE SIEFERS has been appointed regional director of revenue Dubai and MEASA at Jumeirah Group. She brings with her over 10 years of revenue management and distribution experience. In her new role Marieke will lead the revenue management teams across Dubai and MEASA.

IBRAHIM BARGHOUT has been appointed area vice president – MEA for Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC. In his new role, Barghout will have operational responsibility for Ritz-Carlton hotels in the MEA region, portfolio development and owner relations. He will also lead on operational strategy and oversee hotel operations and performance across the region.

GREG ALLAN will now take over as area vice president at Rotana Salalah Resort. He brings with him 30 years of experience in the hospitality sector, which included his position as area director of operations for South East Asia for Marriott International.