A former chief information officer and EVP distribution of Wyndham Worldwide, Mr Edwards will lead the company’s hotel division selling distribution and IT services to hospitality companies.

Jeff Edwards

Prior to Wyndham Worldwide, Edwards worked with Micros Systems Inc where he held a variety of senior roles including president and chief executive officer – Micros Fidelio, as well as executive vice president-Micros Distribution for North America.

Mr Edwards officially joined Amadeus 1 February and will be based in Madrid, Spain.  In the newly created  division in Amadeus, the company has hired three industry veterans – Thomas Drexler for Rail, John Jarrell for Airport IT and Jeff Edwards for Hotels.

According to a report in http://www.tnooz.com, an online news service on travel technology, Mr Babai is a key person behind a new wholesale tour firm focusing on group travel, known as G2 Travel.

Mr Babai, who sold GTA for an estimated US$1.1 billion, is apparently reassembling his former senior management team at G2 Travel from various GTA alumni, according to Toonz.

The only named employee so far is David Littlefair who will run G2′s offices in Bangkok after leaving GTA  September 2011 as managing director of operations in Thailand.

Other regional offices include Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Rome and Bucharest.

G2 says it plans to offer “group land services” such as hotels and other local products from around the world, with a particular focus on the Far East, but only as part of a third party, wholesale-type relationship with travel agents.

G2 is not using third party suppliers for Europe, however non-European destinations will be through third party suppliers, an official says.

Very little information is coming out of G2 so far. Mr Babai’s disappearing act (and previous well-known lack of enthusiasm for personal publicity) was intentional, with Cendant locking him down with a non-compete for six years after the sale of GTA in 2005.

GTA is now a Kuoni-owned company. For full story and other travel technology reports see http://www.tnooz.com

He was visiting the popular world heritage destination on behalf of employer, Burasari Hotel Group.

He previously worked for Diethelm Travel as a vice president sales and marketing based in Bangkok from 2002 to 2010 and with Siam Express as director of sales also based in Bangkok from 2001 to 2002.

The new property is scheduled to open in the second quarter of this year with 345 rooms.

The three appointments are: Christophe Caron as general manager; Anthony Slewka director of sales and marketing and Virinya Maytheepattanachat director of marketing communications.

Christophe Caron

Mr Caron, a French national, joined Accor group in the 1980’s. He was appointed Sofitel Southeast Asia and India vice president in 2008 and prior to that held the post of GM at Sofitel Bangkok Silom.

The new director of sales and marketing, Mr Slewka, joined the group in 2003 and was promoted in 2008 to regional director of sales for Sofitel Southeast Asia and India.

In his new role, he will be responsible for all sales and marketing activities for the property, while still holding the post of regional director of sales for Sofitel Southeast Asia and India.

Ms Virinya worked with Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square, Bangkok. She was also director of marketing communications of Sofitel Bangkok Silom in 2010

Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit is located on the tourist golden mile,  Sukhumvit Road between Soi 13 and 15.

Mr Hazenbroek has over 20 years experience in management and sales. Prior to joining the resort, Mr Hazenbroek was the general manager of the Amari Boulevard Bangkok.

He has also worked for InterContinental Hotels Group, Golden Tulip International and Bilerberg Hotels & Restaurant.

Sea Pearl Villas Resort, Phuket is located on a seven hectare plot of land, on Prabaramee road, 4 km from Patong beach and 35 km from Phuket Airport. The resort features 188 rooms and suites.

Mr Anan started work last week overseeing sales strategies for leisure markets and travel agency markets in Thailand for properties under the Eastin Hotels & Residences as well as U Hotels and Resort brands.

He has 20 years of experience working for Crowne Plaza Hotel Bangkok, Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom, Meritus Suites State Tower, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket and Furama Hotels International.

Anan Phongsuriyahchote

Prior to joining, he was an assistance director of sales at Furama Xclusive Resort & Spa Koh Chang.

Absolute Hotel Services has its head office in Bangkok, but has an office presence in Hanoi to cover Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

It manages 40 properties under U Hotels & Resorts in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, Qatar, Oman and Indonesia. Some are due to open in 2013.

Eastin Hotels & Residences and Eastin Easy is developing 14 projects in Thailand, India, Middle East and Vietnam with close to 1,900 rooms  due to open in 2013.

Ms Chee will be responsible for promoting membership and building opportunities for members in Asia excluding Greater China.

She moves from the regional travel booking website, Wego in Singapore, which has enjoyed a long association with PATA.

Ivy Chee

At Wego, Ms Chee worked with clients in the travel industry and prior to that she was an advertising sales manager at Singapore Press.

Ms Chee speaks English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Malay and basic Japanese. She is a Bachelor of Arts graduate in professional communications from RMIT University Melbourne and has diplomas in Mass Communications from the Melbourne Institute of Business Technology and Taylor’s College.

The announcement was made yesterday after the official joining ceremony of Ethiopian Airlines to the alliance.

Mr Schwab will start his new role 1 January 2012. Prior to the appointment, he was senior vice president alliances for United. He also served as a member of Star Alliance’s management board.

Mark Schwab

Departing CEO, Mr Albrecht was named CEO of Austrian Airlines last November. He has been CEO of Star Alliance since 2001.

Air New Zealand’s CEO and chairman of the Star Alliance chief executive board, Rob Fyfe said: “This appointment follows a worldwide search resulting in the comfortable situation of having several high calibre candidates to choose from. Mark convinced us with his vast industry know-how and his tremendous international experience. Having served our business in several executive positions across the globe gives him that specific background that we need for this challenging position”.

Mark Schwab held numerous executive positions in the airline industry at United Airlines, US Airways and American Airlines. He began his aviation career in 1975 with Pan American World Airways in Rio de Janeiro.

Mr Cheong will be responsible for the group’s existing Landmark Bangkok, taking over from Frank Colwyn,who left the hotel earlier in the year. He will also supervise a new property, Lancaster Bangkok, scheduled to open in the second half of 2012 at site on the Asoke-Phetchaburi intersection, near the main Airport Rail Link station.

Both properties will have hotel mangers under the direction of Mr Cheong.

Albert Cheong

Mr Cheong spent his entire hotel career with Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts spanning 28 years.

The Landmark Lancaster Hotel Group owns and operates hotels of the same names in London, as well as K West brand.

The new property will feature 230 rooms and represents an investment of Bt1.5 billion. The Lancaster Bangkok will position itself as a business hotel tapping bookings from the United Kingdom, France and other European countries, leveraging on the brand awareness of its London hotels.

Rates will start at around Bt4,500 to Bt5,500 per night.

Mr Chaiphun has over 24 years’ experience in hospitality including operations, sales and marketing with 16 years as a general manager at hotels in Thailand, China, Singapore, Laos, and Myanmar.

Prior to this appointment he was general manager of Novotel Centara Hat Yai for almost six years.

Chaiphun Thongsuthum

Centara Hotel & Convention Centre Udon Thani is 6 km from Udon Thani Airport and about 1 km from the train station on the main Bangkok-Nong Khai line. It is part of the new Central Plaza shopping and entertainment complex that opened recently in this northeast town.

The property is scheduled to open, 15 December, but the convention facilities will not be open until March 2012.

After the group took over Charoensri Grand Royal Hotel it was re-branded Centara Hotel & Convention Centre Udon Thani, and underwent a major renovation that increased its inventory from 255 to 259 rooms.