New Appointments

VINAY NAMBIAR has been appointed as vice president – UAE & Gulf Region for Arik Air. Based in Dubai, Nambiar will be responsible for leading and developing the regional business strategies for the airline. He has held several key commercial roles for leading full service airlines based in the GCC and Middle East region.

RICK GONZALEZ has been appointed head chef of Alila Jabal Akhdar. Prior to joining the resort, Gonzalez held the position of executive chef at Amandari in Ubud, Bali and also worked with the team at Sana Sini restaurant at the Pullman Hotel in Jakarta.

MATTHEW JENNINGS has been appointed senior manager of public affairs for the US at Etihad Airways. He is a seasoned federal and international government affairs leader with more than a decade of experience and will be based in Washington, DC. Jennings will be responsible for engaging with key stakeholders, including US policymakers, about the airline and the benefits the carrier’s growing presence brings to the US economy and American consumers. He reports to vice president of international and public affairs, Vijay Poonoosamy.

SONIKA ADLAKHA has been appointed director of sales at the Al Nahda Resort & Spa. She brings with her extensive experience in the hospitality industry with international hotel groups including IHG and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in India and, most recently, from Las Vegas Sands Corporation.

SANDRA FARRERO has been appointed director of marketing and communications at Madinat Jumeirah. She joined Jumeirah three years ago in June 2011 to co-lead the pre-opening and launch phase of Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel and Spa in Mallorca. One of Sandra’s core responsibilities will be to lead and further develop the resort’s marketing and communications team across PR, marketing and partnership development.

HAYTHAM AZIZ has been appointed executive assistant manager in charge of rooms for Ajman Palace Hotel & Resort. Prior to the appointment, Aziz was director of guest services at the Sheraton Dubai Mall of the Emirates Hotel.

PAUL GREGOROWITSCH has been appointed chief executive officer at Oman Air. He joins the airline from Air Berlin, where, having joined the company in 2011, he sat on its management board with responsibility for the carrier’s commercial activities. Gregorowitsch has also held a series of international management positions within Air France-KLM, rising to executive vice president commercial.