Kempinski Hotels appointed Peter Fiedler chief financial officer and member of its management board. Fiedler will oversee the hotel group’s financial function and performance and will be in charge of corporate and hotel finance, managing financial resources, loss prevention, compliance, internal audit and more.
Fiedler has more than 40 years of experience in finance and controlling, and has spent the last decade focused on business consulting, investment and board assignments on various hotel development and management projects. His experience includes working with Daimler-Benz Group, progressing from a manager to senior vice president in various functions in the finance and controlling business.
In 1998, he joined Bayerische Braustiftung Josef Schörghuber & Co. Holding in Munich, Germany, as senior vice president, head of group finance department and holding council before moving on to Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing as managing director and chief financial officer while also becoming a member of the executive board with Brau Holding International. From 1998 to 2008, he also worked with Schörghuber Group Munich, holding multiple executive mandates. Fiedler has a doctorate degree in law and an extensive corporate legal background.
Candice Cancino is general manager of the new AC Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach, scheduled to open the first quarter of 2021 in Fort Lauderdale Beach, Florida. Cancino started her career with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., where she spent 13 years overseeing departments including training, housekeeping, rooms and front of house in locations on both the East and West Coasts. She then worked with W Hotels in California and New York, overseeing two properties in New York City, before moving on to work as director of operations and general manager at several properties in New York City and Washington, D.C. For the past five years, she held general manager positions at the King George Hotel in San Francisco, and Carmel Mission Inn in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
Loews Hotels & Co appointed Patrick Barrett general manager of Loews New Orleans Hotel, Younes Atallah general manager of Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel in Santa Monica, California, and Reggie Dominique managing director, Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. Barrett, a native of New Orleans, has 25 years of hospitality experience gathered across Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Starwood Hotels, Choice Hotels and independent hotel companies. He most recently was area managing director for Fillmore Hospitality. Atallah has two decades of hospitality leadership experience with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. He began his hospitality career in the rooms division as assistant manager at the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Most recently, he was hotel manager for the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Dominique has spent 25 years in diverse leadership roles in hotel operations and sales, having spent the majority of his career with Ritz-Carlton. He was director of sales and marketing at The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, before moving into operational leadership roles. He most recently was hotel manager, JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live.
Island Hospitality Management appointed Samantha Fisher chief investment officer. In her new role, Fisher will lead growth and development strategies for Island Hospitality’s portfolio, underwrite and source deals and manage relationships with potential investors. In her 17 years in hospitality investment sales, Fisher has overseen more than US$10 billion in hotel real estate transactions. She joined the company after serving as senior vice president and managing director at Hodges Ward Elliott. Prior to this role, she held a similar position at Jones Lang LaSalle.
Holiday Inn Club Vacations Inc. announced a slate of executive promotions. Michael Gould, a 25-year veteran of the company, was promoted to senior vice president of revenue management and operational planning. He played a key role leading the company’s operational enhancements over the past year and improving its engagement model with IHG. Mike Jones was promoted to senior vice president of contact center and revenue optimization. Jones has led the company’s marketing contact centers since November 2019, introducing new technologies and processes while establishing a corporate sales group and partnering with IHG’s call center and the Holiday Inn Club Vacations’ performance management team. Chantal Stephens was promoted to senior vice president of performance marketing and revenue enhancement. Stephens joined the company in November 2019 with more than 20 years of experience in building performance marketing teams and achieving strong returns. Shawn Burnett was promoted to vice president of legal services. Burnett joined the company in 2017, and assumed responsibilities in the areas of privacy, telemarketing and advertising law. She is a leader in managing the company’s IHG partnership and a mentor.
Preferred Hotels & Resorts promoted Caroline Klein to chief communications officer. Klein is tasked with leading corporate positioning efforts, managing the company’s reputation through consistent messaging across touch points, developing and enhancing communications strategies and overseeing all corporate communications. She will also serve as chief communications officer of Preferred’s sister division, PHG Consulting, a global travel and tourism marketing and consulting agency. Klein has been with Preferred since August 2012, first as senior manager of public relations for the Americas before being quickly promoted to assume global responsibilities, in addition to greater functions including corporate communications, social media, crisis management and executive communications. She most recently was executive vice president of corporate communications and public relations.
Emil O¨rn Valgarðsson is head chef at Rangá Restaurant in Hotel Ranga in Hella, Iceland. O¨rn Valgarðsson started cooking at the age of 14 and gained experience in Michelin-starred restaurants in France and Norway. By age 22, he had opened his first restaurant and later served as a private chef for the Finnish, French and Norwegian embassies in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Thomas Swieca is general manager of the Steigenberger Inselhotel Konstanz in Konstanz, Germany, taking over for Peter Martin, who stepped into the general manager role at Steigenberger Hotel Bad Neuenahr in Bad Neuenahr, Germany. Swieca joined the company from Radisson Hotel Group, where he was cluster general manager in Vilnius, Lithuania. During his career, he also worked at the Radisson Blu Daugava Hotel in Riga, Latvia; the Radisson Collection Old Mill in Belgrade, Serbia; the Radisson Blu Hotel and Resort in Cesme, Turkey; and the Radisson Blu Media Harbour Hotel in Dusseldorf, Germany, among others. Martin has held numerous leadership roles at Steigenberger Hotels over 17 years.
Steven Szenasi is general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Paradise Valley, opening late next year in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Szenasi, who has decades of experience in luxury hospitality, including with The Ritz-Carlton brand, most recently was general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona, which received Forbes Five-Star awards for both the hotel and its spa under Szenasi’s leadership.
Valor Hospitality Partners named Clarence Tan principal and corporate adviser of Valor Asia, the organization’s Singapore- and Thailand-based division. Tan has more than two decades of experience in hotel management, global leadership and senior management. He previously served as managing director of Southeast Asia and Korea for InterContinental Hotel Group, building its portfolio of hotels.
Sascha Wagner is general manager of IntercityHotel in Wiesbaden, Germany, effective November 20, 2020. Wagner will be in charge of the pre-opening phase before assuming full responsibility as director. Wagner has worked for Deutsche Hospitality for many years, and until the end of the year, will also support the company in his current role as director of processes and systems in the group controlling department. Before this role, he spent three years as head of administration at the IntercityHotel Mainz.