People for April 2009

Jacques Lavergne, a native Winnipegger, has returned to The Fairmont Winnipeg hotel as director of sales and marketing. Lavergne brings 10 years of expertise in the hospitality industry to his new position. He actually started his career in 1999 in food & beverage, and later sales, at The Fairmont Winnipeg. In 2005, Lavergne transferred to The Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver as sales manager, responsible for the corporate and incentive groups.  In 2007, he went to The Fairmont Palliser in Calgary in his most recent position as director of group sales.

There are a few new faces at Hotel Le Germain in Toronto. Paul de La Durantaye recently joined the hotel as general manager. De La Durantaye is originally from Ottawa and has over 20 years of hospitality experience in the luxury hotel market throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico and Europe. He is very pleased to be back in Toronto and is looking forward to continuing to build on the success of Hotel Le Germain Toronto.

Michael Sullivan is now Hotel Le Germain Toronto’s food and beverage manager. Sullivan is originally from Toronto and has worked in some of the most prestigious Toronto restaurants and Muskoka resorts. He has also been owner and partner in more than one successful restaurant venture and his entrepreneurial skills will help establish the hotel’s new Victor Restaurant and the lead the overall direction of its food and beverage operations.

Electronic hotel lock manufacturer Kaba Lodging Systems has appointed Robert Krause to the position of vice-president of business development for the Asia Pacific region. Krause will be responsible for continuing the successful market penetration of both the ILCO and SAFLOK brands in the region’s hospitality segments.

In response to growing demand for Kold-Draft ice making equipment, the company has hired a new management and sales team. Leonard Kosar now serves as president and CEO of Kold-Draft. Prior to joining Kold-Draft, Kosar was president of GE Plastics Pacific, General Electric’s $2.1 billion plastics business in Asia. During his 22 years at General Electric, Kosar led a number of General Electric operations, including serving as general manager of the $1.2 billion GE appliance cooking products business.

LUXE Destination Weddings, has appointed Marc Rosenberg, former vice-president of sales and product distribution for Air Canada to the LUXE Advisory Board.  After 37 years of service with Air Canada, Rosenberg, along with Maurice Swan, partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP and Joel Baker, partner at SBLR Chartered Accountants LLP join LUXE as advisory board members.  Rosenberg held many senior positions before becoming vice-president, sales and product distribution in 1996, a position he’s occupied until his retirement last October. He has also been a board member of numerous travel industry companies and chair of the U.S. Marketing Committee in the Canadian Tourism Commission.

Brenda O’Reilly, a pub owner in St. John’s, replaces Michael Aronovici as chair of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. O’Reilly is owner/operator of O’Reilly’s Irish Newfoundland Pub and Yellowbelly Brewery and Public House. She also owns a catering business called Food on the Run. “I’m very proud to be representing such a vibrant industry where the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well,” said O’Reilly, in a statement. She was elected at last month’s CRFA Show in Toronto.

The NPD Group, Inc., a leading market research company, has promoted both Jane Graham and Keith Barber to business unit president positions.

Graham has been appointed to the position of president, foodservice, fashion & custom. Prior to joining The NPD Group in 2005, Graham was president of a Canadian-based organization specializing in foodservice research. She also served as owner/partner at a firm specializing in market research, business intelligence, and executive recruitment.
Barber has been appointed to the position of president, technology, entertainment & home. In 1998, he joined The NPD Group’s technology line of business, formerly known as Intelect, working in the New York office.  Prior to joining The NPD Group, Barber worked for a number of years with a major packaged goods research firm, rising to the position of vice president.

Steve Halliday is now executive vice president, development for North America, for Pan Pacific. In this new role, he will focus on hotel acquisitions and procurement of management contracts to drive the development for Pan Pacific in gaining a significant brand presence in the North America region. Halliday has been in the hotel industry for over 30 years. He first joined Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts in 1984 and has since provided leadership in the successful openings of Pan Pacific hotels in Vancouver, Seattle and Whistler.   

Gerald Hendry has joined Realstar Hospitality as director of franchise development focusing on the growth of the Studio 6 extended stay brand across Canada. In his new role, Hendry will be responsible for growing the Studio 6 brand by focusing on the conversion of existing hotels along with the addition of new construction hotels featuring the Studio 6 prototype design. Gerald has over 10 years of franchise development experience in various positions in the hospitality industry.

Robert Nerbonne has been appointed CEO of ALI Group North America. Bob will report to the chairman of the ALI Group, Luciano Berti, and be responsible for the ALI Group operations in North America, which includes the following brands: Adamatic, Aladdin Temp-Rite, Amana Commercial Microwaves, Belshaw, Beverage-Air, Bi-Line, Champion, CMA, Eloma US, Moffat US, Moyer Diebel and Victory. Nerbonne has over 20 years of experience in the foodservice equipment industry, with Enodis Corporation, Pitco Frialator and the GS Blodgett Corporation.

Scott Farrell is now chief revenue director of Sequel Hotels and Resorts, a move that will help position the company as a leader in third-party hotel and asset management.  Drawing on over 20 years’ experience in operations, distribution, revenue management and marketing, Farrell will manage Sequel’s current portfolio, as well as assist in the acquisition of new contracts.   In his new role, Farrell will work directly with each of Sequel’s revenue management teams to impact the areas of revenue and profit maximization, distribution channel strategies and decisions, e-commerce and social media, leading change initiatives, matrix measurements and market intelligence analysis. Prior to joining Sequel, he held the position of vice president revenue strategy for TravelCLICK, where he defined strategy to impact revenue growth for over 4,000 hotels. He is the also the former corporate director of distribution and revenue for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

Melissa Brown has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing for the Trump Hotel Collection. Her wide-ranging responsibilities will encompass overseeing the company’s sales and marketing efforts including market positioning for all new projects. Brown is managing the company’s future global sales approach, recruiting key sales personnel for new projects, partnership marketing, interactive media campaigns and web development. Brown has taken on the additional role of director of sales and marketing at Trump SoHo New York. Over her 20-year career, Brown has worked with a plethora of international luxury brands including St. Regis and W Hotels Worldwide, where she served as director of brand marketing worldwide. Prior to that, Brown held leadership positions at W San Francisco, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco, and The Park Hyatt, San Francisco.