People News for July 2009

The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) appointed Lorne Brownsey to its Board of Directors May 29. He brings his experience as the current British Columbia deputy minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts to the table, an ideal fit with the board’s vision for the next four years. His appointment makes the board 25 strong. Most recently, Brownsey was BC’s deputy minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, a post he held from 2003 to 2009.

Days Inns - Canada has added two new members to its corporate team. Karine Bengualid joins as marketing communications manager and Tanya Sukumar joins as operations coordinator. Both positions are one-year maternity leave contracts. Bengualid has over seven years of experience in marketing and communications. Her most recent position was working in marketing for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd.
Sukumar has been working for Realstar Management on a temporary basis for the last few months and brings with her more than three years of administrative office work experience.

Avendra, a leading hospitality industry procurement services company, has appointed Jerry Kraisinger general counsel. Before joining Avendra, Kraisinger was the vice president of development and the general counsel of CapStar Hotel Company, LLC.  Previously, he had been the executive vice president and general counsel of MeriStar Hospitality Corporation.  Kraisinger began his career in the hospitality industry over 22 years ago as a lawyer in Marriott Corporation’s law department.

Laura Fairweather has  joined Siren Communications as vice-president. In her most recent position as director, global PR for the Canadian Tourism Commission, Fairweather represented Canada on the international stage, working with media from around the world.  Prior to this, she was executive director of public relations for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, overseeing all aspects of media relations, corporate communications and public relations.

Mark Rich of Collingwood’s Blue Mountain Resort is the new president at Resorts of Ontario. He takes over from John Sorensen, owner of Couples Resort near Algonquin Park, Ontario. Sorensen steps down after serving as president of the 100-member resort association for the past two years.

Rich brings a wealth of tourism industry experience to his presidency. For 20 years he has worked at Blue Mountain Resort in a variety of capacities. He is currently its director of sales. His work at Blue Mountain has given him the opportunity to work alongside several prominent events, including the 1991 Team Canada Training Camp, the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games, and numerous Toronto Maple Leaf training camps.

Red Seal chef and resort specialist Sean Tweten has joined the Pinestone Resort & Conference Centre in Haliburton, Ontario as its executive chef.  Tweten has more than 20 years of hospitality knowledge and experience in Canada, the U.S. and abroad. His career includes work with InterContinental Hotels Group, Westin Hotels, the Marco Polo Hotel Group in China, and the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff.

Steven Robinson, a 25-year veteran of the hospitality industry is now vice president of Travelodge Canada. He was previously with Choice Hotels Canada for eight years as senior franchise services director, overseeing 265 franchised hotel properties.  Most recently Robinson was director of revenue management for Royal Host Real Estate Investment Trust.  He has served on many boards and associations including the Ontario Restaurant Hotel Motel Association, the Manitoba Hotel Association, the Kawartha Tourism and Convention Bureau and the Nova Scotia Restaurant Association.

Travelport GDS, a leading global distribution system, has named Mark P. Ryan as its new chief information officer (CIO) with global responsibility for formulating and executing the company’s technology strategy, including software solutions and applications development. Ryan leads a team of more than 500 Travelport technology professionals worldwide with development hubs located in Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City and Langley, UK.  He also oversees Travelport’s joint venture technology operation in Delhi, India. Ryan is based in Atlanta and reports to Travelport GDS president and CEO Gordon Wilson.