Northstar

Clout joins Langham Place, Mongkok, Hong Kong HONG KONG – Modern luxury hotel, Langham Place, Mongkok, Hong Kong recently announced the appointment of Zoe Clout as assistant director of sales – MICE. Clout brings to her new role over eight years' experience in five-star hotels and event planning, focusing on the dynamic MICE market. In her new position, Clout will focus on driving business from the Australian, New Zealand, the UK and European markets, as part of the hotel’s strategic plan to further strengthen the growth in MICE business. “We are very excited to welcome Zoe to the team. She offers extensive knowledge in developing sales strategies in MICE business. I am confident that Zoe’s experience in both sales and event planning will be a tremendous asset for the hotel, and will continue to reinforce the hotel’s direction to develop a stronger presence in the region and cross-continent,” says Maxine Howe, Director of Sales & Marketing at Langham Place, Mongkok, Hong Kong. Prior to joining Langham Place, described in TIME magazine as an art gallery masquerading as a hotel, Clout worked for the Sydney Marriott Hyde Park, Sydney Harbour Marriott, Hilton Sydney and Events with Moore. She is also an adventurous traveller who spent a year in South America where her passion for top five-star hotels was born. As a newcomer to Hong Kong, she loves everything the city offers: after-work entertainment, weekend hiking trips and some of the best food in the world. Williamson is Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao's GM SHANGHAI – Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao has appointed Michael Williamson as general manager. Williamson’s experience in the hospitality industry spans nearly 30 years, of which the last 17 years with Hilton Hotels & Resorts. Until taking over the helm at Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao, Williamson was the general manager of various prestigious Hilton hotels in London, including Hilton London Hyde Park, Hilton London Green Park, Hilton London Paddington and Hilton London Euston. Over the years, Michael built a consistent track-record of hospitality & commercial succeed as well as overseeing major refurbishment projects. During his career, he has worked in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Romania, the Netherlands and Dubai. He has held positions in revenue management, business development and hotel operations. A native of England, Williamson attended Durham and Newcastle Universities and holds diplomas in Business Administration, Hotel Management & Catering Administration as well as a BA Hons in Politics. World Sake Champion HONG KONG – Kaoru Izuha, Assistant Manager of Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo’s sushi restaurant Sushi SORA, won this year’s prestigious Kikisakeshi (sake sommelier) Category of the Third Kikisake-shi World Championship. Izuha claimed the honour out of 25,000 certified sake sommelier competitors. Kaoru gained a basic knowledge of wine from her parents. She studied and obtained a sake sommelier certification while working at her first hotel position in a Japanese restaurant, which required an extensive knowledge of Japanese beverages to be able to make recommendations to customers. To broaden her knowledge of beverages, she learned all she could about wine and became a certified wine sommelier as well. The Kikisake-shi World Championship, sponsored by the Sake Service Institute, selects the world’s best sake sommeliers. Contestants are evaluated on their ability to introduce the taste and enjoyment of sake in a correct and easy-to-understand manner. Travelport appoints new VP and Regional MD Langley, UK and Singapore – Travelport, the business services provider to the global travel industry, has announced the appointment of seasoned travel and hospitality industry leader Patrick Andres as its new Vice President and Regional Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific region. Andres will be a key member of Travelport’s senior management team and responsible for Travelport’s commercial operations in the Asia- Pacific region which include driving revenue growth, attaining new business and identifying key strategic opportunities for the company. Simon Nowroz, the incumbent in the role, has moved to the new role of Group Vice President, Business Development, looking after the strategic growth regions of Brazil, China, India and Japan. Andres joins Travelport with 25 years of experience in the travel and hospitality technology industries with a successful track record of leading strong regional growth for global organizations. Most recently, Andres has been the Singapore-based Vice President of Asia-Pacific for Sabre Hospitality Solutions where he led the company’s growth and presence in the Asia-Pacific region for almost six years. Prior to moving to Singapore, Andres was based out of Montreal, Canada, working for multinational companies including IATA, Expedia and SAP AG – a global market leader for enterprise software. Reporting into Jason Clarke, Travelport’s Group Vice President and Managing Director of Global Sales, Andres’ appointment will be effective from 1st November, 2012. He will be based out of Travelport’s Singapore Office.

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