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David Ogilvie has been appointed vice president of sales & marketing for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Since 2003, Ogilvie held the position of general manager at the 977-room The Westin Harbour Castle in downtown Toronto. He has more than 30 years of hotelier expertise on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Before his tenure at The Westin Harbour Castle, his previous roles with Starwood Hotels include four years as VP global corporate travel, based in the New York City Global Sales Office, and a previous tenure as regional director of sales and marketing.

Ontario’s Finest Inns & Spas (OFIS) recently convened their first meeting of the new board of directors at the Inn & Spa at Christie’s Mill. Susan Murray from Niagara-on-the-Lake was recently voted president of the board. She is owner of The Charles Inn, Shaw Club and Harbour House. She replaces Michael Kalmar of the Old Mill Inn & Spa, who completed his two-year term and now moves into the role of past president.  Edward Shubert from Merrill Inn is vice president and Wolfgang Stichnothe from the Inn & Spa at Christie’s Mill remains as treasurer. New board members from Thorold, Cobourg and Gananoque were voted in for a total of 11 voting members representing a membership of more than 40 inns and spas.

Atlific Hotels has announced that Deb Thorn, founding president, chief operating officer and general manager of Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Resort in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan is moving on to pursue a new opportunity.
“We would like to thank Deb for the passion and dedication that has driven Temple Gardens to the success it is today,” said Philippe Gadbois, senior vice-president, Atlific Hotels. “Temple Gardens has become a Saskatchewan icon and will remain one, as Atlific and Temple REIT continue to invest in the success and growth of this great property.”
Ranald Rasmussen is now general manager of Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Resort. Rasmussen previously held the title of director of operations for Temple Gardens. His extensive background in the hotel industry and team-oriented leadership style make him an asset in leading and supporting the team at Temple Gardens.

Jose (Joey) Ferdinand Cruz is now the general manager of the Quality Hotel Grande Prairie. He has been an integral part of the SilverBirch family since January of 2008, where he held the position of regional champion food and beverage for the BC, Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan area. He has over 20 years of professional experience.

Andrew Flack has been promoted to vice president of Global Brand Marketing for the Hilton brand. In this newly created position, he will have oversight for Hilton brand marketing strategies and functions worldwide. Those functional areas include advertising, public relations, strategic partnerships and brand promotions for the leisure and business segments, as well as Hilton Hotels Corporation graphics, identity and hotel online tools and resources. Additionally, Flack supports Hilton Worldwide Resorts marketing and business development efforts for the customer marketing group, Hilton HHonors programs, and hotel opening marketing initiatives.

Avendra, one of the hospitality industry’s leading procurement services companies, has announced changes to its senior management team. Scott Hollis, senior vice president of strategic contracting, and Bill Tilghman, deputy general counsel and vice president, both of whom have been with the company since its inception, plan to retire at the end of this year. Succeeding Hollis will be Walt Sheffler who has been promoted to senior vice president of strategic contracting. Jerry Kraisinger was named as general counsel of Avendra in May and has assumed leadership of the company’s legal department.  

Skyline Investments has hired Peter Cowley as general manager and executive vice president of Horseshoe Resort in Barrie, Ontario. With over 23 years’ experience with Intrawest, Cowley has worked in almost all areas of the hospitality industry in North America, Europe, Mexico and New Zealand. Most recently, Cowley was consultant for various resort and real estate developers planning all aspects of their operations. Prior to that, Cowley was vice president of development at Copper Mountain in Colorado, and Intrawest vice president of lodging product development.

OTEC, an independent, not-for-profit training and human resource development organization based in Toronto, has promoted Adam Morrison from manager, partnership programs to director, project development. Morrison has worked at OTEC since January 2008 and has been instrumental in securing funding and partnerships to grow the nationally recognized Ready to Work Program and the expanded Bridging Program for Internationally Trained Individuals.
Kamaljeet Singh, who joined OTEC in 2007, has moved to the newly created role of manager, workforce skills development. Singh’s responsibilities continue to include the management of the emerit national occupational standards, certifications and resources. In this expanded role, he will help support Ready to Work participants, and will continue to develop the linkages between industry, education at the public and private college level, and OTEC’s Employment and Social Service partnerships.
Jennifer Sifft joined OTEC June 8th, 2009 as coordinator, employment services. She reports to Adam Morrison and is responsible for the administration and coordination of the Ready to Work Program, emerit certifications, and employment services projects.