The latest industry appointments

CHRIS SILCOCK has been announced as Hilton Worldwide’s new executive vice president and chief commercial officer. Silcock has nearly 20 years of experience with Hilton, most recently serving as head of sales & revenue management. He will continue to be based at the company’s US headquarters.

CHRISTINA VIDOS has been appointed as Royal Brunei Airlines’ new country manager for the UK. Ms Vidos brings more than 30 years’ experience to the airline, most recently at Garuda Indonesia, where she served as sales & marketing manager for the UK & Ireland. She has also worked for Qatar Airways.

STEFAN THUMIGER has been appointed as chief operating officer of Treasure Bay Bintan, the new 338-hectare tourism and leisure development. An experienced hotelier with more than two decades of experience, Thumiger most recently served as area general manager for Banyan Tree and Angsana Bintan.

BEN GEORGE has been promoted to the role of senior vice president of sales & revenue management for Asia Pacific with Hilton Worldwide. George, who is also a member of the company’s Asia Pacific executive committee, previously served as Hilton’s vice president of revenue management for Asia Pacific.

KEVIN O’ROURKE has been named as SiteMinder’s new executive vice president of global sales. O’Rourke has more than 15 years’ experience, which he gained at companies including JDS Uniphase, EMC Corporation and most recently Lanyon, the hotel RFP management solutions provider.

KAREN TAN has been appointed senior vice president of sales & revenue performance for Pan Pacific Hotels Group. A Singaporean national, Ms Tan has more than 20 years of experience with hotel brands including Hilton, Mandarin Oriental and Fairmont-Raffles. She will be based in Singapore.

MICHAEL SLATON has been appointed as Hilton Worldwide’s vice president of finance for Asia Pacific. He moves to Singapore from the US, where he served as Hilton’s vice president of finance, global brands & commercial services. Slaton is also a member of Hilton’s global leadership development programme.

SHERLY HANDJOJO has been named as the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) new Australian marketing manager. Ms Handjojo has more than nine years’ experience in travel industry sales and marketing, most recently with Qantas Holidays, where she was national account executive.

GILBERTO LOPEZ MEYER has been appointed as IATA’s new senior vice president for safety & flight operations, effective 19 October. A professional pilot, he joins IATA from the Mexican Civil Aviation Authority which he has twice led as its director general (2003-2008 and from 2014 to present).

NICK CAREEN has become IATA’s new senior vice president for airport, passenger, cargo & security. He moves to the association following a long career with Air Canada and its subsidiary, Jazz Aviation, where he most recently served as vice president for airport, call centres & customer relations.