While we love vanilla, our flavours of the week this week are more like Neapolitan or something straight from a Messina gelato store. Suss out who’s moving and who’s shaking in our industry.

Helloworld appoints new Group GM at QBT

Helloworld today announced the appointment of Nick Sutherland as the new Group General Manager of their corporate travel management business, QBT.

Sutherland is a seasoned travel professional with over 20 years’ experience in corporate travel management as well as airline and commercial foreign exchange. Sutherland will be based in Melbourne and report in to Group General Manager Corporate & Air Tickets, Russell Carstensen.

Prior to launching CT Connections in 2010, Nick held senior leadership positions for large global travel management companies in both Australia & in the UK.

SIVB appoints PTM to manage AU/NZ marketing activity

Pictured (from left to right) – SIVB marketing representative AU/NZ, Richard Skewes; SIVB marketing officer, Stella Lucas and SIVB chairman, Wilson Ne’e

Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau chairman, Wilson Ne’e has announced the appointment of Precise Travel Marketing (PTM) as its industry marketing representative for Australia and New Zealand.

PTM will take immediate responsibility for all aspects of the national tourist office’s travel industry marketing and related trade activity in both key markets.

Headed by Melbourne-based managing director, Richard Skewes, the company has vast experience in the South Pacific where it has been active since 1998.

This includes running a South Pacific specialist travel company and latterly, acting in an advisory role and involvement in marketing campaigns for several Pacific Islands’ national tourist offices and resorts.

Headquarters of New Tourism Destination Networks up for grab

The headquarters of the state’s six new tourism Destination Networks will soon be decided with expressions of interest (EOI) being called from local councils across rural and regional NSW, Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall announced recently.

Marshall said determining the location of each Destination Network office would involve all local councils in the relevant regions being given an opportunity to express their interest in hosting the headquarters, followed by an assessment process by each Destination Network Board.

Each Destination Network headquarters will house three full-time staff, including a General Manager, which will support the work of the board and tourism projects and programs in the respective regions.

“The Government’s support for the State’s regional tourism industry is stronger than ever before and I encourage councils to lodge an EOI for this fantastic opportunity to be directly involved in regional tourism,” Marshall said.

The EOI process is now open and will close on Friday, 17 March 2017. Further information is available on the Destination NSW website together with lodgement details.

Wendy Wu continues expansion

The ever-expanding Wendy Wu Tours has announced the establishment of a dedicated special groups department to provide support for growing requests for customised private group tours of 10 or more people on itineraries throughout Asia.

Heading up this new department is Sonia Orrego as the special groups manager (pictured above). Orrego brings more than 10 years’ experience developing and managing groups, the MICE market, major events and occasions, sports group travel and private touring.

Orrego said, “The specialist department will assist agents and clients requiring a focus on bespoke touring arrangements for dedicated groups.

“These holidays will be tailor-made to the groups’ requirements including specific and unique itinerary requests, modes of transport, hotels, places of interest, dining options, special events and any other special touches and requirements”.

This expansion comes with the recent appointment of Vara Glover as head of sales, responsible for the reservations and the BDM teams.

Glover brings 12 years’ experience in the travel industry to Wendy Wu Tours, including extensive roles as National Account Manager at Club Med and Head of Sales at Antipodean Abroad. She has also had store manager roles at Flight Centre and a five year spell in the UK for Kuoni and Abercrombie & Kent.

Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu Appoints New Director of Sales and Marketing

Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu has announced the appointment of Ms Seema Goundar to the position of Director of Sales and Marketing as part of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) ‘Room to Grow’ philosophy.

Goundar joins the Vanuatu team following her time as Sales and Marketing Manager at Holiday Inn Suva, Fiji. Goundar led the Sales and Marketing team there and during her two-and-a-half-year tenure, the hotel underwent a major refurbishment and her department proudly scored 10 out of 10 consistently in the company ‘Winning’ performance metrics.

Goundar said, “I am extremely excited to join a Resort and team with such an outstanding reputation within Vanuatu and international destinations.

“I am looking forward to nurturing relationships and delivering exceptional, authentic experiences to guests as this is key to creating ‘great hotels guests love’ ”.

Having recently re-opened the Resort, Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu General Manager, Simon Douthett, said he is very excited about the positive contribution Goundar will make to the property and that they already have some fantastic projects well underway.

CT Connections appoints Head of Commercial

THE CT Connections Travel Group has appointed Nicole McMahon as Head of Commercial as the burgeoning company continues to expand and build on its A-team.

In the newly created role, McMahon is responsible for growing relationships with commercial partners including airline, car, hotel and all other third party stakeholders on behalf of the entire group.

McMahon said, “Everything CT Connections stands for resonates with me, including its strong values and commitment to delivering best-in-class service to customers, suppliers and partners. CTC cares about people, is enjoying a growth period and is also at the forefront of innovation.

“I look forward to playing my part in this team’s future successes.”

McMahon, who most recently held the position of Global Industry Sales Manager at Virgin Australia, begins her role on March 14 and arrives with more than 24 years of travel industry experience holding various senior sales and operational roles.

TTNQ CEO steps down for new challenge

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ) Chief Executive Officer Alex de Waal will leave the TTNQ team for a new career challenge with a national company in June.

de Waal said he had been unexpectedly offered the role and would leave TTNQ knowing that the organisation was making great strides towards its vision of being recognised by the global tourism industry as Australia’s leading Destination Management Organisation.

“I have had the great pleasure of playing a role in facilitating the development of our TTNQ team who, in conjunction with our members and the Cairns community, have worked together to deliver a significant resurgence in the Tropical North Queensland visitor economy.

“I will continue to lead the TTNQ team until May 31 and in the interim I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our Chairman Max Shepherd, the Board of Directors, every single TTNQ star, our members and the Tropical North Queensland community at large.”

The TTNQ Board will immediately start a recruitment process seeking a new CEO.

Crowne Plaza makes appointment

Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley and Crowne Plaza Newcastle have moved to strengthen their sales team further, appointing Michelle Borkowski as their new Director of Sales.

Borkowski will focus on strengthening awareness of the Hunter region as the food, wine and events capital of Australia, direct sales activities to maximise market performance, and drive traveller preference through InterContinental Hotel Group’s (IHG) global network.

With a six-year career in the hospitality industry and a previous finance background, Borkowski comes with proven experience and evidence of driving business performance above market expectations. In her previous role, Borkowski was responsible for driving the Leisure and Meetings performance of her hotel cluster which included four Regional NSW Oaks Hotels & Resorts in Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley.