People news for May 2009

There is a new face at the Best Western Charlottetown following the recently-completed $2 million room renovation. Paulette Waddell is now director, sales and marketing, bringing a wealth of experience and direction to her new job. Her previous positions include executive director, Skills Canada PEI; campaign manager, PEI Tobacco Reduction Alliance; marketing director, We Care Home Health; project manager, Information Technologies Association of PEI; and marketing manager, DP Murphy Inc.

Roger Soane, general manager, The Fairmont Chateau Whistler has appointed Carol Eberhard as director of group sales, effective April 6, 2009. Eberhard began her sales career at Whistler Resort Association (Tourism Whistler) as a sales coordinator.  As she climbed up the sales ladder she worked for such companies as Tourism Vancouver, The Westin Resort & Spa, and The Sundial Boutique Hotel.  She is joining The Fairmont Chateau Whistler from the Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside and Village Centre where she held the position of director of sales and marketing.

Robert Clark has been hired to manage go2’s new Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Division. In his new role, Clark will be responsible for the start-up, development and implementation of this new go2 division. Clark comes to go2 with more than 10 years of experience in human resource development, occupational health and safety, and facility security. He has worked most recently with Great Canadian Gaming Corporation where he implemented a corporate health and safety program for over 5500 of Great Canadian’s employees.

Rational, the creator of the SelfCooking Center, has announced the promotion of Vinod Jotwani from U.S. marketing manager to international marketing manager for the United States and Canada.     In his new role, Jotwani, who joined Rational in 2003, will develop strategic marketing programs and monitor sales and marketing performance in the two North American subsidiaries. In addition to hiring and training the marketing staff and corporate chefs that support the sales team, Jotwani will manage over 100 national, regional and local trade shows and sales events.

Travelport GDS announced several  management changes in The Americas region last month. Patrick Lukan is its new vice president, global e-commerce business. Lukan, who previously headed up Travelport GDS’s UK & Ireland operation, has been with the company serving as the general manager of that region since 2005. Lukan will report into president and managing director of The Americas region, Travis Christ.

Dan Westbrook has been named vice president, Airline Services; Melissa Carlston has been named vice president, Hotel, Car and Cruise Services and Partner Marketing and Robin Siczek joins the company as director, Airline Services.  Dan Westbrook and Melissa Carlston will report to Christ.

Earlier, Travelport announced that Sue Powers was named chief executive officer of the company’s recently created business unit named IT Services & Software by Travelport (ITS&S).

Keith Woodcock was named interim chief information officer. Having previously performed the role of CIO for Galileo, Woodcock has a firm foundation and wealth of knowledge from which to develop and drive Travelport’s technology strategy.

Bruce Guerin has been appointed manager of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s Alberta Foodservice Show. The next edition of this annual event runs Sept. 27 – 28, 2009 in Calgary at the Round Up Centre, Stampede Park. Guerin produced this year’s BC Foodservice Expo, which enjoyed a double-digit increase in attendance over last year. “Bruce is recognized for his ability to anticipate the needs of both exhibitors and attendees, and has an excellent track record of producing quality events,” says Steven Barber, CRFA’s vice president of expositions.

Best Western has a new blogger specializing in the Canadian market.  Educated at Toronto’s York University and living in Oakville, ON, Bryson Forbes spent the better part of the last decade understanding the needs of the Canadian traveller and currently works as junior partner and vice president of business development for TIL American Express. Prior to that, Forbes held senior positions in both the corporate and leisure travel sectors, at American Express and Sears Canada Inc. He also spent time at Travelweek, one of Canada’s leading travel trade publications. Forbes contributes content weekly to the Best Western blog, www.YouMustbeTrippin.com.

Le Grand Lodge Mont-Tremblant has announced the promotion of David Ouellet to the position of executive chef, in charge of the restaurant operations of the hotel. Ouellet has worked at the hotel for more than five years.   

Dedication to his community and a real drive for tourism—that convinced the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)’s Board of Directors to appoint Dr. Dragan Matovic to the board March 13. Matovic is the latest member of CTC’s 23-person volunteer board. He’ll serve a four-year term. An authority on tourism in the Niagara Falls, ON, region, Matovic is principal/CEO of Halex Ventures Inc., a real estate development firm. From 1986 to 2002, he worked as principal/vice-president of Rado-Mat Holdings (Canada) Ltd. Matovic is chair of the Strategy Committee of Niagara Falls Tourism, board member of the Binational Tourism Alliance and project director for the Niagara Convention & Civic Centre.

Interval International has appointed Torey Marcus to assistant vice president of Creative Services. In this role, he oversees the editorial, copywriting, and design divisions of the department, developing print and electronic communications for members and resort clients in worldwide markets. He also serves as editor-in-chief of the Interval World consumer magazines, the Interval International Resort Directory, and other publications.