Tami brings more than 25 years of event management experience to her role, including time at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay and The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.
Ivona comes to us from Hotel DeBrett where she held the role of Front Office Manager, originally from Croatia with more than 13 years' experience in luxury 4 & 5-star hotels in NZ and Europe including a senior role at Grand Millennium Auckland. With a passion for outstanding guest service, Ivona speaks Croatian, Italian and Spanish. Ivona will manage our Central Reservations team and report in Michel Adolphe Director of Sales and Marketing.
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest lodging franchisors, has promoted Sarah Searls to the newly created role of chief customer officer.
Chrissy is a Customer Success Associate here at VENZA. She comes to the team with more than 20 years within the Hospitality industry, bringing a wealth of knowledge regarding everyday struggles in the life of a GM. Although she survived the ups and downs of GM challenges, nothing has proven to be more difficult to her than her house filled with 3 kids and a "project-driven" husband. The quote that best describes Chrissy, "You never tell the client no until you know the answer is no" as well as, "Where there is a will there is a way." She firmly believes in treating customers like they are family and demonstrates that on a regular basis.
Katia joins Fairmont Dubai from her most recent role as Director of Housekeeping at the Fairmont Marina Abu Dhabi, where she has been part of the pre-opening team since April 2018. Prior to this role, Katia was chosen to assist the housekeeping department at the iconic Raffles Hotel in Singapore to reopen the property after a two-year renovation.
Bilal brings a broad meetings industry background, specialising in exhibitions & event management, as well as meetings, Incentives and conferences. He has actively consulted in the business events industry throughout the Middle East. Originally from Jordan, he maintains offices in Dubai, Riyadh and Amman.
Gupta has over two decades of housekeeping experience, previously working with international and local hospitality chains such in the Middle East and Asia. Before The Retreat Palm Dubai, she was the Executive Housekeeper at Ramada Plaza Hotel. In her current role, Gupta oversees the day-to-day operations of the housekeeping department and maintains its recognized high standards of service.
Fairmont The Palm, Dubai has promoted Soumana Ammar to the role of director of operations. Soumana is responsible for overseeing and enhancing the execution of the resort's operational procedures and delivering key strategic initiatives across the resort.
Most recently, Linehan was Director of Guest Services for front-of-house operations at The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, TN. In his role at this AAA 5-Diamond hotel, he worked closely with the Director of Housekeeping to conceptualize and bring new service programs to life, while lifting the hotel's inspection scores to its highest levels. Prior to that, Linehan was Front Office Manager at The Ritz-Carlton Charlotte, NC.Previously, Linehan was Housekeeping Manager at The Cloister at Sea Island Resort where he played an integral role in maintaining the Forbes 5-Star and AAA 5-Diamond rating. During that time, he implemented employee appreciation programs, which improved morale and increased service to achieve performance goals.Linehan's additional experience includes Assistant Housekeeping Manager at The Ritz-Carlton Chicago, and tenures at Four Seasons Boston, and Four Seasons Las Vegas.
Thaxton is our new addition to the VENZA Security Team. He comes with an extensive background in customer service, IT recruiting as well as Fraud investigations. Like Marvel superhero T'Challa, he draws from his Superhuman strength, speed, and agility to ensure that our clients are safe and secured from cyber threats.
Zack has loved computers ever since he was little, understanding how things work, computers or otherwise is foundational to him. Learning as much as possible and being able to take that desire, transform it into a skill that lets him deliver excellent results to the client while being able to continue to advance and grow as an IT professional is his passion.
Katie is VENZA's Customer Success Associate. She has a BFA in Communication, putting her creative thinking and problem-solving skills into practice for the Customer Success Team. The skills necessary for Customer Success are well within her wheelhouse, originating from her prior industry experience in the fields of education, medical, and commercial real-estate specifically in hotel and resort development.
A French national, Rahhaoui has more than seven years of experience in the hospitality industry. She started her career in 2012 with the Marriott Hotel Paris Champs-Élysées, France as the sales and marketing executive.Prior to joining Meliã Desert Palm Dubai, Rahhaoui was hotel operations mManager for The Act Hotel & 72 Hotel, UAE. She has also worked with The Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery by Sofitel as their pre-opening guest experience manager and PR and business development manager.
With over 7 years' experience in 5-star hotels & resorts, McKenzie will be overseeing Front Office, Concierge, Spa & Pool's working with the relevant departments to drive new projects, incremental revenue & overall guest satisfaction. Before moving to Dubai and Radisson Blu, McKenzie spent two years at InterContinental London - The O2, with recently holding the position of Front of House Manager having previously spent five years at the Celtic Manor Resort in a variety of roles from Chef de Rang to Assistant Reception Manager.
India's first dual-branded hotel Marriott appoints Abhirup Bandyopadhyay as their Rooms Division Manager at the Courtyard and Fairfield Bengaluru. Bringing over 10 years of experience in guest relations and hospitality industry to the role, Abhirup has received various accolades over the years including being recognised as the Regional Winner for "EDGE - Excellence in Delivering Guest Experience" award from the Continent Office in 2018 when he was the Front Office Manager at Courtyard Raipur.
Hassan is the first Emirati to join the Crowne Plaza Dubai's senior management team in the hotel's 25-year-long history. She several years' experience in implementing and sustaining security plans, as well as in guaranteeing safety requirements, emergency services, fire protection, and protection of assets.
Hospitality International announced today that James Kennedy has joined the newly formed AMP team, as Assurance and Marketing Program Director in the South East and Central Regions. James has 25 years experience in the hospitality industry. He has worked in Task Force Sales and Marketing with numerous brands including Marriott and Hilton. Additionally James was a regional director of sales for Pegasus Solutions. Prior to joining Hospitality International, he was employed by RLH Corporation as a Sales Support and Assurance Director.
Jos Pallandt (31) has a proven track record at the five-star superior Hotel Okura Amsterdam. He has held various positions since joining the hotel in 2009, including assistant front office manager and assistant director of food & beverage. Following his appointment as director of rooms, Jos will join the management team of Hotel Okura Amsterdam. As of 1 May, Jos Pallandt's responsibilities include the front office, concierge, guest relations, security and housekeeping departments. He will also be responsible for Okura's wellness centre Nagomi Spa & Health.
Scott Blow is Director of Engineering. He previously served as Chief Engineer for Loews Sapphire Falls Resort and Chief Engineer for Universal's Cabana Beach Resort, and was part of the opening teams for both hotels. Blow's roots are in construction and his previous work experience includes major hotel and theme park projects throughout Orlando.
Waldemar (Javier) Lopez has been promoted to Director of Housekeeping. He was previously Assistant Director of Housekeeping at Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort and was part of the hotel's opening team. He has also held leadership positions with Norwegian Cruise Lines and Celebrity Cruises.