The latest industry appointments

ANGIE VAUX has been named as TripAdvisor’s new commercial director for Asia Pacific. Ms Vaux moves to TripAdvisor from enterprise software company SAP, where she held the position of senior director of business unit – Southeast Asia. She will be based in TripAdvisor’s Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore.

CHEW ENG LOKE has been appointed chief financial officer of AirAsia X. A Malaysian national, Chew arrives at the long-haul LCC from Ogawa World Berhad, where he also served as CFO. He started his career with the Asia Life Assurance Society and has since worked for several Malaysian companies.

MARK HUTCHINSON is moving into the role of commercial & marketing director with Air Tahiti Nui. Hutchinson is currently the airline’s manager for Australia and New Zealand but will now move to Tahiti on 8 September. He was responsible for setting up Air Tahiti Nui’s operations in New Zealand in 2000.

PETER SKINNER has become Outrigger Resorts’ new vice president of design & projects. Based at the company’s Asia Pacific corporate office in Phuket, Skinner will direct the design of new hotel projects across the region. Most recently, he was design director at The Beaumont Partnership in Bangkok.

DUNCAN ALEXANDER has been appointed vice president of global alliances & partnerships with travel technology company Illusions Online. Alexander brings more than 20 years of travel distribution and technology experience to the role, having worked with Mercator, OAG, SITA and Travelport.

UGUR TALAYHAN has been announced as the new general manager of the Raffles Hainan. Talayhan started his career in the hotel industry as a chef de partie at a Crowne Plaza hotel and worked his way up to GM. Most recently he held the position of general manager at the Westin Xi’an.

PHILIP SMITH has become the new general manager of the Fairmont Chengdu. A hospitality professional of more than 30 years, Smith will be in charge of the pre-opening of the hotel, which is expected to launch in late 2015. Smith was previously the GM of the Fairmont Yangcheng Lake.

GRAHAM HEWITT has been appointed general manager of the Fairmont Nanjing. A hospitality professional with more than 25 years of experience, Hewitt started his career as a director of finance with Starwood and most recently occupied the position of general manager at the Sheraton Nanjing Hotel & Tower.

JEFF CHENG has been promoted to the role of general manager at the Fairmont Yangcheng Lake, in eastern China. Cheng started his career in food and beverage, including spells as a chef the Ritz-Carlton and Star City Casino in Sydney. He then rose to director of food & beverage positions.

JOHN TERRY has been appointed general manager of TMS Talent, the travel and hospitality recruitment firm. Terry, who will also be responsible for Parker Bridge Group IT in Australia, will also work with the Parker Bridge team in Thailand and New Zealand, focusing on technology recruitment.