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Rocco Forte appoints GM for Masseria Torre Maizza

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Rocco Forte Hotels is pleased to announce the appointment of Franco Girasoli as General Manager of Masseria Torre Maizza set to open May 1 in Puglia.

An Italian native, Girasoli brings 30 years of hospitality experience to the new Apulian resort and has excelled at building strong relationships with an international clientele from key markets such as the United States, the UK, Russia, Japan, France and Germany.

Prior to taking the helms of the new Rocco Forte property, Girasoli spent a large part of his career with Belmond Group, where he started in the F&B department of Villa San Michele and eventually moved his way up to General Manager in 2004. After 20 years in Tuscany, Girasoli transferred to Ravello in 2008 where, for 10 years, he led the team at the Belmond Hotel Caruso.

Located in the charming town of Savellestri di Fasano, Masseria Torre Maizza is an historic farmhouse dating back to the 16th century, surrounded by ancient olive trees and a 9-hole golf course.

Rocco Forte Hotels has invested over 6 million euros to enhance the masseria back to its natural beauty.  Olga Polizzi, Director of Design for Rocco Forte Hotels has worked closely with local artisans to redesign the historic building. The hotel will now offer 40 luxurious rooms and suites, each boasting private gardens and terraces with stunning views across the Apulian countryside.

“I am proud to be joining the Rocco Forte Hotels team, especially to inaugurate their first luxury resort in Puglia.  This is one of the most attractive destinations in the south of Italy” said Girasoli.

Sir Rocco Forte, Founder and Chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels, added: “We are delighted to welcome Franco to our first luxury hotel in Puglia. I am sure that his experience will allow us to achieve great results in an exciting year for Rocco Forte Hotels.”

The appointment of Girasoli is part of an unprecedented moment of expansion for the Rocco Forte Hotels group which, in May 2019, will also inaugurate its second property in Rome, the iconic Hotel De La Ville a few steps from Piazza di Spagna.

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Tourism Managers on the move: New GM at Avani Seychelles

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The Avani Seychelles Barbarons Beach Hotel & Spa has welcomed Nico Vivier as its new General Manager.

Nico Vivier arrives in Seychelles with a wealth of experience having been previously at Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island where he was promoted Nico Vivier to hotel manager.

The South African national oversaw the operations across three properties – Anantara Desert Islands Resort & Spa, Al Sahel Villa Resort, and Al Yamm Villa Resort – on Sir Bani Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.

Vivier started his career in hospitality nearly two decades ago in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has been working in destinations such as Seychelles and Tanzania before joining the Sir Bani Yas team as executive assistant manager in charge of F&B in August 2016.

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Club Travel Corp. welcomes former Travelex head honcho

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Kananelo Makhetha will assume the role of Club Travel Corporate Chief Executive on April 1, 2019 based at Club Travel Corporate’s Johannesburg office.

Makhetha is a seasoned travel and tourism leader with broad executive experience in private, governmental, and industry bodies.

“We are delighted to welcome Kananelo as CEO of Club Travel Corporate,” said Wally Gaynor, Managing Director of the Club Travel Group. “Club Travel Corporate has experienced phenomenal growth in a relatively short amount of time and Kananelo will help steer the division towards our target of 15% share in the South African corporate travel market, in the next five years. Kananelo is known for his driven, fair and honest leadership style; as such he is ideally fitted to the Club Travel DNA.”

Kananelo is an accomplished leader who brings more than twenty years of executive management experience in travel and tourism, most recently as Chief Executive Officer of Travelex Africa where he oversaw the leadership and management of operations in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa since 2014. Prior to joining Travelex, he was Managing Director of BCDTravel from 1996 to 2014 where he was responsible for the strategic direction of the company.

In addition to his roles in the private sector, Kananelo was a member of the South African government’s ministerial task group for tourism sector transformation (2002), a past president of ASATA (1998 – 2001), and a past board member of South African Tourism.

“Club Travel Corporate is a world-class company on an important mission to bring high quality and affordable travel management services to South African businesses. I’m excited to be joining one of the most decorated and innovative brands in African corporate travel management,” said Kananelo Makhetha.

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Marriott International appoints new member to Board of Directors

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The Board of Directors of Marriott International, Inc. said today it has appointed Margaret M. McCarthy, Executive Vice President at CVS Health Corporation, as an independent director of the company, effective March 19, 2019. Ms. McCarthy will also be included in the company’s slate of nominees for election at Marriott’s upcoming 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

Ms. McCarthy’s appointment expands the membership of the Board to 14, 11 of whom are independent. She will also serve on the company’s Audit Committee.

“Meg brings a wealth of leadership experience to our Board from her over 30-year career in business and her military service,” said Larry Kellner, Marriott International’s Lead Director. “We were drawn to Meg’s experience with consumer-facing companies undergoing transformational change as well as her knowledge of privacy and cybersecurity. Marriott has a strong and independent Board of Directors that provides critical guidance and advice to management. We are also committed to building a Board that has diverse perspectives and backgrounds reflecting the diversity of our guests, associates and owners. We are confident that Meg will be a valuable addition to the Marriott Board.”

As Executive Vice President at CVS Health, Ms. McCarthy is a leader in the company’s technology transition following its acquisition of Aetna. As previously announced, Ms. McCarthy is slated to depart CVS Health in May. She brings substantial experience in data management and security.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Meg to our Board,” said Arne Sorenson, Marriott International President and Chief Executive Officer. “Her experience and expertise promise to make Meg a terrific addition to the Marriott Board. I look forward to her insights and leadership as we work to build Marriott’s global hospitality brand.”

Ms. McCarthy joined CVS Health through its acquisition of Aetna Inc. in 2018, where she had been Executive Vice President of Operations and Technology since 2010. At Aetna, she also served as the company’s Chief Information Officer and Head of Business Solutions Delivery. Prior to joining Aetna in 2003, she was a senior Information and Technology executive at Cigna Corp., Catholic Health Initiatives and Franciscan Health System, and a Partner at Ernst & Young.

Ms. McCarthy currently serves on the Board of Directors of Brighthouse Financial, Inc. and First American Financial Corporation. She also serves on various advisory boards and councils, including the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, MIT Center for Information Systems Research and the Board of Trustees of Providence College.

Ms. McCarthy holds a bachelor’s degree from Providence College and a master’s degree in public health, hospital administration from Yale University. She served in the U.S. Navy Medical Services Corps as a Lieutenant at Bethesda Naval Hospital and in the U.S. Navy Reserves as a Lieutenant Commander.

Marriott’s Board of Directors engaged Russell Reynolds Associates to assist in identifying and evaluating potential nominees.

With the addition of Ms. McCarthy, the 14 members of Marriott’s Board of Directors are as follows:
•J.W. Marriott, Jr., Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board, Marriott International, Inc.
•Mary K. Bush, President, Bush International, LLC and Former Presidential Appointee as the U.S. Government’s representative on the IMF Board
•Bruce W. Duncan, Chairman of the Board and Former President and Chief Executive Officer, First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. and Former Interim Chief Executive Officer and Director, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
•Deborah Marriott Harrison, Global Officer, Marriott Culture and Business Councils, Marriott International, Inc.
•Frederick A. Henderson, Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SunCoke Energy, Inc.
•Eric Hippeau, Managing Partner, Lerer Hippeau
•Lawrence W. Kellner, President, Emerald Creek, Group, LLC, Marriott International’s Lead Director
•Debra L. Lee, Former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks
•Aylwin B. Lewis, Former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Potbelly Corporation
•Margaret M. McCarthy, Executive Vice President, CVS Health Corporation
•George Muñoz, Principal, Muñoz Investment Banking Group, LLC
•Steven S. Reinemund, Former Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo, Inc. and Former Dean of Business, Wake Forest University
•Susan C. Schwab, Professor, University of Maryland and Former U.S. Trade Representative
•Arne M. Sorenson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Marriott International, Inc.

Marriott’s Board will nominate these 14 directors as its recommended slate at the company’s upcoming Annual Meeting.

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Cunard cruise line uncorks line-up of speakers for 2019 Wine Voyage

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Luxury cruise line Cunard has announced that three of the leading wine connoisseurs and oenologists, will join Queen Victoria’s second annual ‘Voyage Du Vin’ on board Queen Victoria, setting sail in September. This round trip, 14-night voyage departs from Southampton, England, on September 6, and returns on September 20, 2019.

Oz Clarke, Will Lyons and Charles Metcalfe will headline the two-week voyage, which will sail to some of the leading wine regions of France, Spain and Italy including calls to Vigo, Mallorca, Livorno (for Florence) Cannes, Barcelona and Gibraltar. Guests will have numerous opportunities to go ashore and explore the diverse cultures, tastes and experiences each destination has to offer. Wine experts include:

• Oz Clarke is one of the world’s foremost wine connoisseurs, has written several award-winning books, and is generally regarded as leading Britain’s wine revolution in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Clarke said: “Whether you’re an existing wine buff, or simply have a love of fine wine, fine holidays and good times, the Voyage du Vin 2019 is sure to delight. I’m already looking forward to joining Queen Victoria in September.”

• Will Lyons is an award-winning columnist and broadcaster who has publishes a weekly column on wine, formerly in The Wall Street Journal and now The Sunday Times. His humorous, informed, down-to-earth writing has been recognized in both the Glenfiddich and Roederer wine writing awards.

• Charles Metcalfe is the International Wine Challenge’s co-chairman and is one of the best-known wine critics in Britain.

“We are delighted to have this group of experts join the second annual Voyage du Vin,” said Josh Leibowitz, SVP Cunard North America. “This is an extraordinary way for wine enthusiasts to taste some of the world’s leading wines and visit the regions where they were made, all while travelling in style on board the iconic Queen Victoria – only on Cunard.”

Along with talks from the experts, guests will experience daily wine tastings, pairings and fine dining, featuring over 400 wines from 23 countries.

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Trump appoints former Delta Air Lines executive new FAA chief

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Former chief of flight operations for Delta Air Lines was appointed by President Trump to run the Federal Aviation Administration, currently under scrutiny for allowing the troubled Boeing 737 MAX 8 to carry passengers.

Steve Dickson, who spent 27 years with Delta before retiring in October as senior vice president of flight ops, is joining the agency in the midst of its most turbulent period in recent history, with Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao having requested an audit of its certification of the aircraft, two of which have been involved in horrific crashes over the past five months.

While Dickson’s name had reportedly been under consideration since November, Trump allowed the FAA to go without an official head for over a year following the end of Obama-era agency chief Michael Huerta’s term. Daniel Elwell, who led the FAA under George W. Bush, has been running the agency in an interim capacity without being confirmed by the Senate.

The man from Delta will be the first FAA head in three decades to have come directly to the job from a senior airline position – something of a pattern for Trump, who has recruited a number of cabinet members from the ranks of corporate America to staff the agencies tasked with regulating their former employers. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who previously worked for Boeing, is just one such appointment.

The FAA is under fire for allowing Boeing to conduct crucial parts of its own safety testing and certification process. A group of current and former engineers from both the regulator and the aircraft manufacturer claims the FAA merely took Boeing’s word that their new plane was safe – an oversight that other countries then allegedly magnified by conducting only minimal testing of their own, assuming the US watchdog wouldn’t have certified an unsafe aircraft. Boeing is also accused of “cutting corners” to quickly certify the plane in order to compete with the new Airbus A320 Neo – between them, Airbus and Boeing comprise the lion’s share of all passenger airliners – and of failing to properly train pilots to work with the onboard systems.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed earlier this month shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board after diving unexpectedly into a field. It was the second Boeing 737 Max 8 to meet such a fate in under six months, and investigators have pointed to “clear similarities” between this crash and the Lion Air Flight 610 disaster in October, which killed 189 people.

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Swiss-Belhotel International appoints new General Manager for Swiss-Belinn Muscat

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Swiss-Belhotel International has appointed Paul Uglesic as the General Manager for Swiss-Belinn Muscat in Oman. Paul has ten years of outstanding experience in the hospitality industry working with some of the world’s leading brands.

Making the announcement, Laurent A. Voivenel, Senior Vice President, Operations and Development for the Middle East, Africa and India, Swiss-Belhotel International, said, “We are delighted to welcome Paul Uglesic to lead the team at Swiss-Belinn Muscat in Oman. Paul has a decade of strong knowledge and understanding of the hospitality sector as well as excellent pre-opening expertise targeted at achieving operational excellence and guest satisfaction. We are confident under his leadership this superb property, that is in advanced stages of development, will provide outstanding facilities in the 3-star category.”

Paul started his executive career in the industry at Radisson Blu Resort & Spa in Croatia in 2009. In 2015, Paul moved to Dubai taking up the role of Executive Assistant Manager at Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Deira Creek and performed a task force role as the acting General Manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai Downtown. His most recent posting was at the Park Inn by Radisson Dubai Motor City as the opening General Manager.

Upon joining the Swiss-Belinn Muscat Paul said, “I am truly proud to take up the position at the fantastic Swiss-Belinn Muscat in Oman. It is an exciting adventure for me since Swiss-Belhotel International is a great brand to work for. Together with my team, I am looking forward to launching the hotel and positioning it as a preferred address for both regional and international travellers.”

Paul holds a bachelors’ degree in economics from the University of Adelaide in Australia along with several certifications and professional diplomas in hospitality management, hotel revenue management, and general manager’s program from the acclaimed Cornell University.

Expected to open this year, Swiss-Belinn Muscat is a superb 3-star hotel enjoying an outstanding location in close proximity to Muscat International Airport. Equipped with 128 rooms and suites, the hotel is being developed to offer its guests a comprehensive range of facilities including an all-day-dining restaurant, meeting space, gym, Wi-Fi access and 24-hours room service. Given its fantastic location near the airport, the hotel will serve as the perfect abode for transit passengers looking for stop-overs and airline crews as well as corporate travellers on a short visit to Oman or those facing unexpected flight halts.

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