Jeff Kennedy has been promoted as General Manager of Delta Whistler Village Suites. Jeff joined Delta Grand Okanagan® in March 2011 as Director of Operations and played a key role during the guest room renovations at the hotel. During Jeff's eight-year career with Delta, he held progressive leadership positions at Delta Whistler Village Suites and Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort and Spa®.
Colin Perry has been appointed as General Manager of Delta Edmonton South®. Colin effectively led the team at Delta Whistler Village Suites since September 2011. Under his leadership the property achieved Delta's Hotel of the Year Award in 2012. During Colin's career with Delta, he led teams at Delta London Armouries® and Delta Lodge at Kananaskis in varying roles.
Zubair Siddiqi has been appointed as General Manager of Delta Ottawa City Centre®. Zubair's career with Delta spans many years with his most recent tenure as General Manager at Delta Prince Edward®. During his time at Delta Prince Edward, Zubair led his team through the construction of a new convention centre and hotel renovations. Zubair is presently on the board of Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association.
Peter Gillis has been appointed as General Manager of the recently opened Delta Toronto®. Prior to his new role, Peter was the General Manager of Delta Ottawa City Centre®. During his tenure, Peter led a successful rebranding renovation of the property that led to an award winning lobby design. His Delta journey has taken him across the country to several properties in the Prairies, the Rockies and British Columbia.
Sean Palmer has been appointed to General Manager of Delta Edmonton Centre Suites® from his current role as the Acting General Manager. During Sean's career with Delta, he has been Hotel Manager at Delta Calgary Airport, Director of Operations at Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre®, Acting General Manager at Delta Kitchener-Waterloo and has held several operations roles with increasing responsibility at Delta Toronto East®.
Martin Gilbert is appointed as General Manager of Delta Bessborough® effective December 31, 2014. Martin's career at Delta spans many years most recently as General Manager of Delta Trois Rivieres ® and Director Sales and Marketing at Delta Fredericton®. Prior to joining Delta, Martin held a variety of leadership roles in sales and operations with global hospitality companies.
Dan DeSantis is appointed as Managing Director of Delta Calgary Airport® and the recently announced new Delta Calgary International Airport® hotel effective January 1, 2015. Previously, Dan held General Manager positions at Delta Lodge at Kananaskis®, Delta Sun Peaks Resort and Delta Whistler Village Suites®. Dan is an active member of the Alberta Strategic Tourism Council and is current Chair of Tourism Canmore Kananaskis.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced that an affiliate of Hyatt has sold the 644-room Hyatt Regency Vancouver to an affiliate of InnVest for approximately $123 million or $190,000 per key. The hotel will continue to operate as a Hyatt Regency hotel.
Officials of New Castle Hotels and Resorts, a leading hotel owner, operator and developer, today announced that Matthew Mackenzie, a veteran Canadian hotelier, has been named general manager of the Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews, N.B. Mackenzie previously was the general manager of the New Castle-operated Keltic Lodge Resort and Spa in Ingonish Beach, Nova Scotia, during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
INTEREL, the world's fastest growing manufacturer of integrated room technologies in the luxury hospitality industry, has announced the appointment of Michael Cohen as the company's SVP Key Accounts responsible for leading INTEREL's market entry into the Americas and managing its sales and business development efforts for key global accounts.
Puzzle Partner continues to expand with the announcement that hospitality technology industry icon Jules Sieburgh, CHTP, has joined their team. Mr. Sieburgh will be advising promising future technologies on strategies, VC funding and advancing angel investments. The arrival of Mr. Sieburgh, in addition to the recent addition of Seth Christian, supports the vision of growing the firm's depth of services for technology startups.
CheckMate, the leading mobile guest engagement platform, has appointed industry veteran Patricia Brusha to drive their Canadian expansion as Director of Channel Sales. In her new position, Patricia will be responsible for education and implementation of CheckMate's revolutionary platform to all Canadian hotel partners including brands, independents, management companies, and franchise owners. She will also develop and oversee the company's reseller program worldwide.
The Canadian lodging market is on track for a recordbreaking year in 2014. Many markets across Canada will achieve their highest RevPAR ever this year. Challenging winter conditions in many parts of the country hindered the performance of the Canadian lodging market in the first quarter, which led to temporary market concern, but the second and third quarters of 2014 have seen a remarkable strengthening of market fundamentals. According to RBC, the growth in Canada's real gross domestic product (GDP) picked up to 3.1% in the second quarter of 2014 following weak growth of 0.9% in the first quarter, which parallelled the tepid growth in lodging demand in the same time period. The weaker loonie and the stronger US economy fuelled economic growth in Canada in the second and third quarters, and this increase in economic activity has translated into very solid demand gains in the Canadian lodging market. Consequently, the national occupancy is projected to reach 65% for 2014, which is fractionally higher than the previous record-breaking occupancy set in 2007.
Fairmont Tremblant welcomes Éric Beaupré as executive chef. Beaupré brings over 15 years of experience to this position, beginning his culinary career in 1997 as chef de partie, Hotel Vogue, Montreal. Since then, he has held chef de partie positions with Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, Casino Lac Leamy, Hull, Quebec, The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and The Fairmont Chateau Whistler. Most recently, Beaupré was the executive sous chef of Fairmont Tremblant.
PhoneSuite, a leading provider of telecom solutions designed exclusively for the hospitality industry, has signed an agreement to have its full line of Voiceware IP-PBX products distributed in Canada by Calgary-based Total Hospitality Solutions.
This is the second installment in a three-part series examining the impact of the Chinese market on Canada's lodging industry, with special emphasis on the city of Vancouver (Read first installment here). In this installment, we examine the unique context that informs the decisions of the Chinese investor, the motivations these investors have for investing in foreign markets, and why the Vancouver hotel market is poised to see an influx of Chinese capital.
Novotel North America has announced the promotion of Michael Singer to Area General Manager of all Toronto Novotel hotels. Currently General Manager of Novotel North York and a 25-year veteran of Accor, the world's leading hotel operator, Singer will oversee all Novotel operations in the Toronto area. - In addition to his role as current General Manager of Novotel North York, Singer will be responsible for the operations of all Novotel Toronto hotels to maximize performance and quality. He will be tasked with creating a strategic plan for market growth in Toronto by implementing cohesive sales, PR, and marketing activities among all properties, while also overseeing F&B profitability and assisting in conceptual culinary developments. Singer will also be charged with monitoring growth of income and improving "flow" through the area hotels, while also assisting individual properties as needed in increasing market share and business stability.
This is the first installment in a three-part series examining the impact of the Chinese market on Canada's lodging industry, with special emphasis on the city of Vancouver. In this installment, we examine Vancouver's connection with Chinese immigration and the role that this history plays in the current surge of investment and tourism into Vancouver from the People's Republic of China. Chinese investor attitudes and tourism to Vancouver will be discussed in the second and final installments of the series.
Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa is pleased to announce the appointment of Warren Janes as General Manager. Working closely with the entire resort team, Janes will oversee all aspects of the resort including day-to-day operations, owner relations, directing and developing staff, and maximizing guest satisfaction.
Christophe Descroix ESSEC IMHI 1990 has been appointed Vice President of Finance Hotels Division at Sunwing Travel Group based in Toronto. Prior to that Christophe worked for 11 years with Melia Hotels from Director of Finance France up to Corporate Administration Vice President. Previously Christophe worked as CFO for Opteaman and Club Med World.