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New sales leader at Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC & Kimpton George Hotel

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Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC and Kimpton George Hotel announced the hire of Katherine Saad-Loman as director of sales and marketing for both boutique hotels in Washington, DC. Saad-Loman brings a strong resort, catering, and luxury hotel background to the position, as well as nearly 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry.


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In her new role, Saad-Loman will drive all sales and marketing activities for Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco Washington DC and Hotel George. Saad-Loman’s day to day as director of sales and marketing for the two hotels will be spent with an emphasis on working with key corporate accounts while also leading the hotels’ expert sales, catering, and events staff. Under her guidance, the team will continue to create ridiculously personalized meetings, weddings, and creative event experiences, offering seasonally-inspired food and beverage in partnership with the hotels’ talented restaurant teams. Saad-Loman will also spearhead strategy for all sales segments and oversee the approach toward revenue, digital marketing, advertising and public relations efforts for the hotels.

Saad-Loman joins Kimpton with varied and impressive experience. She began her career at Hilton Singer Island Ocean Front Resort where she increased catering sales 350% across her three year term. After learning the ropes of a conference hotel, Saad-Loman gained experience as a director of food and beverage at Imperial Lake Golf and Country Club in Mulberry, Florida. She then cut her teeth in a number sales and operations roles throughout central Florida and Baltimore before joining the team at Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort as a senior sales and catering manager. She continued to advance her career at top hotels in the Florida market before returning to the Mid-Atlantic as a director of sales and marketing at Bethany Beach Ocean Suites in Delaware. Prior to joining the team at Kimpton, she was task force director of sales and marketing with Crestline Hotels & Resorts in Fairfax, Virginia.

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A world traveler and graduate of Catham College in Pittsburgh, Saad-Loman has called the greater DC area home for the past seven months. Outside of work, she can be found planning her next trip, finding places to use her fluent French and recommends everyone live abroad at least once in their lives. Saad-Loman is a member of Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) with a passion for mentoring those looking to hone their sales and leadership skills, and she also volunteers, teaching financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship to first graders through Junior Achievement of Greater Washington in her spare time. Saad-Loman brings a stylish sense of leadership and a wide range of sales and marketing experience to both Hotel George and Hotel Monaco Washington DC.

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Diamond Live Concert Series honored by American Resort Development Association

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Diamond Resorts was recognized by the American Resort Development Association with one of the vacation ownership industry’s top awards for its groundbreaking Diamond Live Concert Series.

Mike Flaskey, Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Resorts, and Chris Brock, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, accepted the award during the annual ARDA World Awards Gala in Orlando, Fla.

“To say I am proud of our talented team members is an understatement,” said Mike Flaskey, Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Resorts. “Our team is consistently pushing the envelope and developing innovative ways to enhance vacation experiences for our members, owners and guests.”

“The Concert Series began several years ago as a little idea and our team has taken it very far, growing the platform into a full series of private concerts with some of country music’s top artists,” Flaskey added. “I am very grateful that our industry has recognized our team’s innovation.”

ARDA, the Washington D.C.‐based trade association representing the vacation ownership and resort development industries, annually recognizes resorts and industry members at the ARDA World Convention & Expo in categories that include overall professional excellence, outstanding sales and marketing accomplishments, product design, advertising and staff.

Diamond Resorts has won awards each year, and was named finalists in 23 categories ahead of the 2019 event.

In addition to the ACE Innovator Award, Diamond took home 11 other awards:

•Sales Verification Loan Officer/Quality Assurance Officer – Annette Stultz
•Business Administration Manager: Finance & Accounting – Yash Dubal
•Training and Development Manager or Team – University of Excellence and OD Team
•Call Center Leader – Kayla Czapla
•Activities Program Team – Virginia Beach Activities Team
•Safety/Security Manager/Team – Edwin Brooks
•Resort Assistant Manager – Leonardo Olachea
•Newsletter – The Club Newsletter
•Multi Media Campaign – All Access Pass Sweepstakes
•Social Media Campaign – #DRIGolf Campaign
•Refurbishment: HOA – Liki Tiki Village Lobby

Attracting more than 1,700 participants from more than 35 countries, ARDA World offers companies prime exposure to vacation ownership industry professionals and provides quality networking opportunities and expert insight on the latest industry trends. Strengthen relationships with your current customers and seek out new opportunities to expand your business and increase your company’s visibility in the ARDA World Marketplace.

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Indian Hotels Company launches new hotel brand

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The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), South Asia’s largest hospitality company, today, announced the launch of a new hotel brand – “SeleQtions”, which is a collection of named and distinctive properties.

SeleQtions was launched with 12 hotels across the country. The vision for the brand is to celebrate individuality, by offering unique experiences through landmark hotels that have their own legacy and charm.

Speaking on the occasion, Puneet Chhatwal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IHCL said, “SeleQtions will allow IHCL to cater to a broader audience of travelers who prefer staying in hotels with a distinctive character. SeleQtions also includes hotels that have a slice of history, defining location or a differentiated theme. We believe the brand has immense potential to grow.”

The 12 hotels in the first phase include properties present in seven key lodging markets of India: President, Mumbai; Ambassador, New Delhi; The Connaught, New Delhi; Blue Diamond, Pune; Cidade de Goa; Tajview, Agra and Devi Ratn, Jaipur. The other hotels are Pratap Mahal Ajmer; Savoy, Ooty; Gateway Coonoor; Gateway Chikmagalur and Gateway Varkala.

For those hotels which are independent – IHCL offers its robust infrastructure including global reservation systems, Taj InnerCircle loyalty program and sales and marketing support.

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Viking and China Merchants Group to build cruise line for Chinese cruise market

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Viking Cruises and China Merchants Shekou, representing China Merchants Group, announced they have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture focused on building a cruise line with worldwide cruise offerings for the Chinese cruise market.

This will be a wide-ranging partnership covering from product development to sales and marketing. Further, China Merchants Group’s shipbuilding subsidiaries will partner with the joint venture to design and build new ocean cruise ships dedicated to the Chinese market.

“China is a dynamic outbound tourism market, and we are pleased to be partnering with China Merchants Group in this joint venture to drive the development of the cruise industry – we see Viking’s way of cruising less as a trip and more as a lifestyle,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “For more than 20 years, we have led the industry in developing a fleet of ships and a range of cruise itineraries that we believe provide guests with the most comfortable and enriching way to explore the world. Our partnership with China Merchants Group will allow us to bring this Viking travel lifestyle to more Chinese travelers more quickly, satisfying the Chinese market’s unmet demand for a greater choice of sophisticated travel.”

“China Merchants Group treasures this cooperation with Viking. This is a full scale, multi-dimensional cooperation that covers all three main business sectors of China Merchants group,” said Gangfeng Fu, president of China Merchants Group. “Viking has gained tremendous experience in cruise operations and branding strategies during its 20 years of rapid growth. We sincerely hope that the alliance of the two powerful brands will create synergies and innovative business models that will lead the cooperation into a market-leading cruise brand.

Viking operates a current fleet of 78 vessels, offering scenic cruising on rivers and oceans around the world. China has been a part of Viking’s destination portfolio since 2003, and since setting up local operations in China in 2016, the company has seen strong momentum in its European river cruise product tailored for Chinese-speaking guests.

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St. Kitts shines in US Roadshow 2019

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A signature activity in US, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority conducted its 2nd annual Destination St. Kitts & Nevis US Roadshow 2019 from Monday, March 25 to Friday, March 29. The week-long series of 6 events were held in New York, New Jersey, Atlanta, Houston, Farmer’s Branch (Texas) and Dallas in order to grow visitor arrivals from these gateway markets and supporting flow markets. These events were designed to educate travel agents, tour operators, MICE buyers, wedding and honeymoon planners, media and experiential lifestyle consumers about everything the destination has to offer both business and leisure travelers.

“This year’s US Roadshow was a resounding success with record numbers of attendees for each event,” said the Hon. Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism for St. Kitts & Nevis. “Having attracted the sheer number of travel agents, MICE buyers, media and more who sell or publicize business and/or leisure travel demonstrates that there is growing interest and demand in these gateway markets for the tourism product that St. Kitts & Nevis has to offer.”

The first event was a brunch held at The Castle Hotel & Spa in Tarrytown, New York, an affluent suburb north of New York City on Monday, March 25. The second event was a dinner held at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, New Jersey, an upscale neighborhood in the northern part of the state, also on March 25. On Tuesday, March 26, the third event was a dinner held at the Westin Buckhead, located in an affluent suburb just north of Atlanta. The fourth event was a luncheon held on Wednesday, March 27, at the Hess Club in Houston. A cocktail reception held on Thursday, March 27 at the Brookhaven Country Club in Farmer’s Branch, an affluent suburb of Dallas, Texas, was the fifth event in the Roadshow, while the sixth and final event was a luncheon held at III Forks Restaurant in Dallas.

All events supported St. Kitts’ non-stop flights and attracted a total of 300 attendees combined, all of whom were travel agents, MICE buyers, tour operators, wedding and honeymoon planners, media or experiential lifestyle consumers. Attendees were top travel professionals representing some of the most respected organizations in the business, including Maritz Travel, Cox Enterprises, Pro Travel International, Meetings Plus, Valerie Wilson Travel, Houston Style Magazine, Frosch, Questex LLC, Travel Impressions, and Westchester magazine.

“Developing lasting relationships with top travel professionals in our key gateway markets is a key component of our overall marketing strategy for the destination and our Roadshow provides us with the opportunity to connect with these individuals face-to-face,” added Racquel Brown, CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. “In order to continue growing arrivals, we need to maintain and expand our base of sellers to help fill our non-stop flights as we continue to build out new and increased airlift from the US.”

In addition to being treated to a meal and lively conversation with representatives from St. Kitts, the individuals played games, listened to presentations and won a variety of prizes from hotel stays to bottles of St. Kitts’ own Brinley Gold Shipwreck rum that were provided by participating local island tourism stakeholders. In addition, attending travel agents were offered a special $150 incentive for booking clients’ air only on the non-stop flights to St. Kitts or air in combination with a hotel reservation at participating destination hotels, all offering special Summer Sunsation rates, between now and May 17, 2019 for clients’ travel through August 17, 2019 when they log their productivity on St. Kitts’ website or via the Destination Specialist program with Travel Agent University. As a result, many attendees are now adding St. Kitts & Nevis as a featured destination they will sell to their clients.

The delegation from St. Kitts inclded: the Hon. Lindsay F. P. Grant, Minister of Tourism for St. Kitts & Nevis; Racquel Brown, CEO of the St. Kitts Tourism Authority; Ambassador Jonel Powell, Chairman of the Artist Selection Committee for the St. Kitts Music Festival; Annie Sinzinger, US Marketing Manager for the St. Kitts Tourism Authority; Denise Zimber, Christina Mucha and Shayna White, Marketing Consultants for the St. Kitts Tourism Authority; Tom Jaronski, Golf Consultant for the St. Kitts Tourism Authority; and Candice Kimmel, CEO and Founder of Adams Unlimited, PR & Marketing Agency in North America for the St. Kitts Tourism Authority.

A number of tourism stakeholders from St. Kitts & Nevis were also part of the delegation, including: Troy Hendrickson, Carib Journey Masters; Tawanna Wigley, Sales Representative, Ocean Terrace Inn; Richard Berridge, General Manager, Kayanjet; Jaana Kuntonen, Sunlinc; Christine Marshall, Sales Manager, Park Hyatt St. Kitts; Sylvia Martinez, Director of Sales and Marketing, St. Kitts Marriott; Tim Thuell, Nisbet Plantation; Cyndi Miller-Aird, President, Miller + Aird Destination Marketing for Belle Mont Farm; Jamar Wilkins, Travel Industry Sales Manager, Four Seasons Resort Nevis; and Darren Thompson, General Manager, Royal St. Kitts.

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