Northstar

PEOPLE www.travelweeklyweb.com Langham Hospitality Group's new appointment Simon Manning has been appointed vice-president, Sales and Marketing, for international luxury hotel operator, Langham Hospitality Group. Manning will oversee all 31 hotels under the Group which covers four continents. He will play a crucial role in developing strategies to drive sales and marketing plans for Langham's worldwide portfolio of hotels. Brett Butcher, Chief Executive Officer, said: "With Simon's global sales and marketing expertise, we trust that he will lead Langham Hospitality Group to new heights as we accelerate our growth around the world." Manning has over 22 years of solid experience as a hotel sales and marketing specialist. Prior to joining Langham Hospitality Group to head up the group's global Sales Hilton Shanghai welcomes Gerd Knaust on board Hotel veteran Gerd Knaust has been appointed the new general manager for Hilton Shanghai. Knaust started his hotel career in Germany via the culinary scene. His fi rst appointment in Asia was at a fi ve-star resort in Penang, Malaysia where he was executive sous chef. Prior to joining Hilton Shanghai, Knaust joined Hilton International in 2010 as the cluster general manager of Conrad and Doubletree by Hilton Sanya Haitang Bay, the first Conrad hotel and the sixth Doubletree by Hilton hotel in mainland China. There, he was instrumental in Simon Manning and Marketing team, Simon led the Asia Pacific Sales and Marketing efforts of a leading luxury hotel company. the project development of the luxury resort throughout its pre- opening phase, from the architectural and interior design concept. Knaust's experience as a chef also allows him to work closely with the food and beverage team in developing concepts and menus for the hotel. Besides this, he is also involved in sales and marketing strategies. Gerd Knaust His first general manager position was in Indonesia at Mandarin Oriental, Surabaya, a five- star heritage resort, where he led the team on property for over three years. In 2006, Knaust moved to Mandarin Oriental, Sanya as pre opening general manager. TransAsia appoints new general manager for Northeast Asia Keizaburo Yokota is TransAsia Airways' new general manager for Northeast Asia. Based in Tokyo, he wi l l oversee dai ly logist ics and marketing activities in the Nor theast Asia markets, with particular focus on expanding the airline's fl ying routes in this region. Yokot a has over 30 year s in the aviation industry and was mos t recent ly head of inter- national business development , represent at i ve of China and general manager for Japan Airlines based out of Beijing where he was stationed for eight years. "I see TransAsia Airways as a quickly growing airline continuously overcoming challenges to achieve signi f icant goals. Wi th prior experience in the chartered flight market in Japan, the airline has built a strong foundation – our 6 | ■ TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA | 15 MAY 2012 next priority is to establish it as the "most reliable airline" in Japan, and throughout Asia delivering a pleasant nonstop fl ight experience to customers on every journey," said Yokota. TransAsia Airways has worked hard since 2008 to penetrate the Japan sky through chartered flight operations and in 2010, reached 1,000 chartered flights per year and an average passenger load of 90 per cent. Since the of f icial open skies agreement between Japan and Taiwan was inked in November 2011, the Carrier has applied to operate up to eight scheduled routes to Japan. I t wi l l begin on June 28, 2012, with its first scheduled flight between Taoyuan and Osaka, and plans to launch flights to Fukuoka, Ryukyu, New Keizaburo Yokota Chitose, Hakodate, Kusiro and Asahikawa by the second half of this year. Chairman Vincent M. Lin said: "With the addition of Yokota, I'm happy to say TransAsia Airways has a dedicated management force in place for Asia. In the Southeast Asian market, general manager Andrew Stephen has achieved an impressive average passenger load of 70 per cent since the launch of Taipei-Singapore route almost a year ago. Later this year, we will look to expand into Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia and I believe TransAsia Airways is well poised to make a giant leap into the region. Our vision remains reaching all major cities in Asia within the next five years," he concluded. www.travelweeklyweb.com

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