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The Travel Career Connexxions Opportunities Newsletter
07/20/04 The only weekly newsletter detailing essential trends, news and top executive moves in travel. Opportunities is a free newsletter that provides you with the vision to "see" travel industry opportunities in the making. Whether you are in sales, business development, guiding your company's growth or managing your career, reading opportunities will give you the advantage to succeed. Opportunities is another innovative tool brought to you by Travel Career Connexxions. For more information, visit our main Travel Job resource page. This week in Opportunities:
Southwest Names New CEO To ensure that you always receive this newsletter and other communications from Travel Career Connexxions, please add our address to your Address Book (newsletter@travelexecutive.com). This will keep most email filters from misinterpreting and discarding these emails. Did you know? As of 7/20/04 there are 115 executive-level travel jobs published in the Travel Career Connexxions employment report. Positions include Vice President Sales (7/19), Vice President of Operations (7/19), VP of Sales Operations (7/14), VP of Strategic Development (7/14), Director of Marketing (7/19), Director of Sales & Marketing (7/13), Director of Finance (7/13), CEO, CMO and more. It only takes one person to fill the job of a lifetime - and that someone could be you! http://www.TravelExecutive.com OPPORTUNITIES NEWS & TRENDS! Southwest Names Kelly to Replace Parker as CEO Southwest Airlines said Vice Chairman and CEO James Parker had retired for personal reasons. Southwest Chairman Herb Kelleher said Parker's surprise decision was accepted by the airline's board with both deep regret and profound gratitude. Kelleher also announced that Gary Kelly had been selected by the board to succeed Parker as vice chairman and CEO, as well as a member of the board. Kelly has served as Southwest's executive vice president and CFO since 2001, and joined Southwest as its controller in 1986, becoming vice president-finance and CFO in 1989. In addition, Laura Wright, currently vice president-finance and treasurer, is succeeding Kelly as Southwest's CFO. Wright joined Southwest in 1988 and since 1998 has been primarily responsible for Southwest's overall corporate finance strategy. Separately, Southwest Airlines reported a lower second-quarter profits compared with same period a year ago. The airline said earnings fell to $113 million from $246 million. In second quarter 2003, the low-fare carrier received a $271 million government payment that helped push net profit up. Carnival Corp. Moves Cunard HQ to California Carnival Corporation & plc announced restructuring of Cunard Line's North American organization designed to position the company for continued growth while streamlining operations. The line will be relocated from Miami to Santa Clarita, Calif., home to sister company Princess Cruises, by December 2004. In addition to the recently announced fleet operations reorganization, Cunard will share administrative, finance and IT functions with Princess. This relocation follows the recent announcement in the United Kingdom, where Cunard's British operations were combined with those of the other Carnival Corporation & plc U.K. brands. The relocation is expected to reduce future overhead costs by approximately $20 million on an annual basis. Non-recurring charges related to the cost of the relocation of between $10 million and $15 million are expected to be recorded primarily over the remainder of 2004. Cunard employs about 300 people in Miami. At least 120 of them reportedly will be offered jobs at other Carnival lines in Miami or relocate along with Cunard to Santa Clarita, Calif., home to sister company Princess Cruises. The remaining Cunard employees in Miami will be offered severance packages. The reorganization also has led a number of high level executive changes that have rippled through Carnival Corp.'s other cruise brands (see below). Cunard Move Leads to Exec Changes at Other Lines Cunard's move hasn't just affected staff in Miami, but a number of top executive posts in other lines as well. Pamela Conover will remain as president of Cunard and will oversee the transition to Santa Clarita, Calif. Once the relocation is complete, she will assume the new position of senior vice president, Carnival Shared Services, a corporate office function reporting directly to Howard Frank, vice chairman and chief operating officer of Carnival Corporation & plc. The line's North American Sales and Customer Services department will report to Lee Robinson, vice president of sales and customer service for Cunard, and the North American Marketing and Revenue department will be led by David Gevanthor, Cunard's vice president of yield management and marketing. Gevanthor and Robinson, together with Carol Marlow and Jackie Foggitt, the heads of sales and marketing in the United Kingdom and Australia, respectively, will report to Peter Ratcliffe once the transition is complete. The current Cunard field sales force remains intact, and will continue to represent the Seabourn Cruise Line in addition to Cunard. Seabourn Cruise Line will remain based in Miami and operate as an independent brand within Carnival Corporation & plc led by Deborah Natansohn, newly appointed as its president. Natansohn had previously been senior vice president, sales and marketing, for Cunard. Natansohn will report to Carnival's Howard Frank. In a related move, Richard Meadows, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Seabourn, has been named senior vice president of sales and marketing for Carnival's Holland America Line. Meadows takes over responsibilities formerly held by David Giersdorf, executive vice president-marketing and sales, who resigned his post but will remain with the line through Nov. 30 during a transition period. Meanwhile, Giersdorf recently was named chairman of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), a post that is usually held by someone with a high level job at a CLIA-member line. CLIA reportedly will be meeting later this month to discuss when and how to replace Giersdorf, whose term was set to run through mid-summer 2005. Gov't Reports Cruise Passengers Grow 13.6 Percent The cruise business is still booming, according to the latest government statistics, and the increase in U.S. homeports is one of the reasons. Reflecting a rise in the popularity of passengers departing from ports closer to their homes, cruise lines carried 2.3 million passengers on North American cruises in the first quarter of 2004, the Maritime Administration (MARAD) reported. The figures reflect a 13.6 percent increase compared to the same period in 2003. The majority of cruises are still destined for the Caribbean and the Bahamas. However, MARAD said there has been important growth in new and emerging "drive market" ports--departure ports closer to home. For example, last year, during the first quarter, four ports--New York, Jacksonville, Houston, and Norfolk--offered no departures. Now, these cities are currently among the top 15 departure ports in the nation. Other ports posting impressive gains are Charleston with 54 percent, New Orleans with 46 percent, Galveston with 31 percent, and San Diego with a nearly 200 percent increase. While Miami remained the number one departure port in the first quarter of 2004, its passenger traffic declined 15 percent from last year, and its marketshare fell from 30 to 22 percent, in part, because more departure traffic is going through other ports. Los Angeles overtook Tampa for the number five ranking. According to the International Council of Cruise Lines' most recent economic impact study, the North American cruise industry contributed a total economic benefit to the U.S. economy of $20.4 billion in 2002. Direct spending of the cruise lines and passengers on U.S. goods and services was $12 billion and those expenditures generated nearly 280,000 jobs in the U.S. economy. Marriott Wins Praise from NAACP for Employment Practices Want to work for a company that is recognized for its diversity and human resources policies? Marriott International, Inc. has been named by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as a company at the top of the lodging industry for the sixth time in its annual lodging industry report card. Marriott received a "B" grade on the report card, which focuses on employment, vendor relations, property ownership, advertising/marketing and charitable giving within the African-American community. The NAACP acknowledgement comes as Marriott continues to solidify its position at the forefront of the industry in several diversity-related areas, including franchising, supplier diversity, and the hiring, retention and promotion of minorities. Marriott said its commitment to diversity encompasses the company's business operations, and comprises both managed and franchised hotels. The Marriott International Franchise Network included 220 minority-owned franchised properties in 2003 and has more than doubled the number of women- and minority-owned franchises in the past five years. Marriott's Supplier Diversity Initiative was the first program in the industry to institute minority- and women-owned business outreach. In 2003, Marriott spent $150 million with minority- and women-owned businesses. Marriott also requires national vendors it does business with to work with minority- and women-owned businesses, which resulted in an additional $50 million going to such firms in 2003. This year, Marriott also was named by Hispanic Magazine as one of the publication's "Hispanic Corporate 100." Marriott was also named this year by Essence magazine as one of the publication's "Best Companies for Black Women." Major Casino Merger Could Impact Top Executive Posts Will more upheaval in the resort casino business lead to more career opportunities? Just weeks after MGM Mirage announced a deal to acquire Mandalay Resorts, Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. signed a definitive agreement to buy Caesars Entertainment, Inc. in a cash and stock transaction that the two companies say should be the largest in gaming industry history at approximately $9.44 billion. The transaction is expected to close in about a year, depending on approvals by regulators and shareholders of both companies. With $4.5 billion in annual net revenue, 28 properties on four continents and 26,000 hotel rooms. Caesars casino resorts operate under the Caesars, Bally's, Flamingo, Grand Casinos, Hilton and Paris brand names. The company has its corporate headquarters in Las Vegas. The executive management team at Caesars Entertainment won't stay long after completion of the deal, but the guess is hear that there will be some changes in top executive posts at some of Caesars' casino resorts as well, which include Bally's, Hilton Paris and the Flamingo in Las Vegas. Strong Quarterly Gains for Marriott Show Hotels Health The hotel business continues on the upswing, if the latest quarterly results are any indication. Marriott International, Inc. (reported income from continuing operations of $160 million, up 27 percent, and diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.67, up 29 percent for the quarter ended June 18, 2004. Highlights for the quarter were as follows: Worldwide, systemwide comparable revenue per available room for the second quarter increased 13 percent. Room rates increased 3.7 percent during the quarter while occupancy increased nearly 6 percentage points to 74 percent. Marriott added 186 managed and franchised hotels (31,000 rooms) to its system since the 2003 second quarter, reaching over 500,000 rooms. Over one-third of the new hotel rooms added to Marriott's system in the second quarter were conversions from other brands. Timeshare segment results increased 16 percent during the quarter reflecting strong leisure demand. Marriott now estimates 2004 full-year diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, including the impact of synthetic fuel, to total $2.32 to $2.40 per share, which reflects growth of approximately 20 to 24 percent over 2003. "After three difficult years, strong demand returned to the markets most impacted by the downturn," said Chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott, Jr. "We were particularly pleased to welcome back international visitors to the U.S. The number of international guests visiting our U.S. hotels increased 34 percent during the quarter, benefiting from favorable exchange rates, and was particularly evident in New York and San Francisco." Marriott said properties in Asia and the Middle East generated significantly higher sales and profits due to higher traveler demand from around the world. A year ago, in the 2003 second quarter, these regions were hurt by the war in Iraq and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Owner and franchisee interest in Marriott brands remains robust and it converted over 3,000 rooms to its brands during the quarter. Does Managing Airlines Equal Selling Hamburgers? Can a top airline executive find happiness in the fast-food industry? That's a question that will be answered once again. Burger King Corp., the number two U.S. hamburger chain, on Tuesday named turnaround specialist Greg Brenneman as chief executive, replacing Brad Blum, who left earlier this month because of strategic differences with the company's directors. Brenneman is currently chairman and CEO of private equity firm TurnWorks Inc. but is the former chief financial officer of Continental Airlines. He assumes his new post on Aug. 1, becoming Burger King's ninth CEO in 15 years. This also isn't Burger King's first experience with an airline CEO. John Dasburg, former president and CEO of Northwest Airlines, served as president and CEO of the burger outlet two years ago, before resigning. Meet Top Marketing Execs at ATME's Sept. Conference Want to network with some of the best marketing minds in the travel business? If you're already in travel, you can sign up for the ATME 2004 Conference & Trade Show, being held Sept. 21-22 in Philadelphia at the Westin Philadelphia Hotel. ATME (the Association of Travel Marketing Executives) is offering the conference for $495 for ATME members and $695 for non-members (including a one-year membership in the group). Scheduled speakers at the event are Deborah Natansohn, newly named president of Seabourn Cruise Line, and former senior vice president-marketing for Cunard: Henry Hartevelt, vice president, Forrester Research; Tom Anderson, senior vice president and CMO of Spirit Airlines; Michel Bouquier, worldwide director of the Monaco Tourist Office; Scott Deaver, senior vice president at Cendant; Chris Flatt, vice president-marketing and sales for Wynn Las Vegas; Tom OToole, senior vice president-marketing for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts; Mike Sands, CMO of Orbitz; Stephen McGillivray, senior vice president-marketing for Vacation.com; Rob Britton, managing director of advertising and planning for American Airlines; Diane DeRose, vice president-marketing for the San Francisco CVB; Marciel Ibarra, director of the Aruba Tourist Office; Ken Bright, vice president-marketing North America for Singapore Airlines; Chris Rossi, vice president-marketing for Virgin Atlantic Airways; Brian Murphy, vice president-marketing for Aer Lingus; Joel Chusid, vice president-marketing for China Eastern Airlines; Susan Black, executive vice president-marketing for GoGo Worldwide Vacations; Brian Baker, vice president-marketing for Jackson Estates; Gary Sain, CMO and partner for YPB&R; Joanne Smith, vice president-marketing for Song; and Peter Greenberg, travel editor for NBC's Today Show. For more information, call 800-526-0041 or visit www.atme.org. OPPORTUNITIES EXECUTIVE MOVERS! AIRLINES: Frontier Airlines promoted Sean Menke, senior vice president of marketing, to chief operating officer. In his new role as COO, Menke will lead the day-to-day operational organization of the airline including customer service, maintenance, flight operations and reservations. He will also continue to lead the marketing and branding initiatives. Menke will report directly to Frontier President and CEO Jeff Potter. Menke, who came to Frontier's marketing team in 1999, was named senior vice president of marketing last November where he led all planning, scheduling, pricing, revenue, branding, and advertising initiatives as well as Frontier's customer service and station operations. Prior to joining Frontier, he served as senior planner-domestic schedule planning at United Airlines. He also served as director-planning for the now-defunct Colorado Springs-based Western Pacific Airlines. His 12 years of aviation experience also include several executive posts with America West Airlines, including senior analyst, market development, economic analyst, planning and customer service supervisor and agent...Leroy Keith has joined Global Aviation Associates, Ltd., an airline industry consulting firm, as vice president-operations, safety, and security. In his previous position as technical director for the 17 airline members of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), he supervised the staff responsible for aircraft engineering, maintenance, flight operations, safety, security and environmental matters. Keith has over 40 years experience in the aviation industry, including the US Air Force, The Boeing Company, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Douglas Aircraft Company, Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and the AAPA...Low-cost startup Virgin America named Dave Pflieger as vice president of the Operations Control Center for the start-up carrier. Pflieger, working out of the new airline's principal base of operations in San Francisco, will oversee the day-to-day operations and reliability of Virgin America's domestic flight network. He joins Virgin America from Delta Air Lines, where he was vice president of operations for Song, Delta's low-cost airline. At Song, Pflieger was responsible for the oversight and coordination of Song operations with Delta's Flight Operations, Technical Operations and Operations Control Center. He has more than 18 years of aviation operations and management experience, including service as a Delta pilot. Prior to his position at Song, Pflieger moved through Delta's ranks, rising from chief operations attorney in 1998 to director of flight safety in 2001. Prior to Delta, he was a member of Atlanta law firm King & Spalding...Delta Air Lines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), its wholly owned Delta Connection subsidiary, named two company veterans to key operational roles. Gregory Kennedy is now vice president-Airport Customer Service West, replacing Paulette Corbin, who had been promoted to senior vice president-In-Flight Service. At the same time, ASA named Carmine Testa, currently Delta's field director-Airport Customer Service (Florida), as vice president-Atlanta Airport, replacing Kennedy. In his new position, Kennedy will lead 55 Delta stations with more than 4,000 employees across the West and Midwest. At ASA, Testa will continue Kennedy's work to build the airline's Atlanta flight hub, its biggest, into a showcase for excellent operations and customer service... Low-fare airline Independence Air and parent company Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings appointed Denise Womble as vice president-reservations. Womble was previously at US Airways as director-sales and customer Support, where she was responsible for the airline's Executive Support Customer Care Center as well as group and meeting sales. Womble also spent 20 years at Sabre/American Airlines in various positions, including the management of customer care centers and help desks...Viva International, Inc. has made the following management changes: Oscar Hasan assumes the post of chief executive officer and president replacing Robert Scott in both roles, Rudy Dominguez assumes the post of chief operating officer and E. Thomas Septembre becomes the company's vice president of administration, Compliance and corporate governance. Hasan and Dominguez have also accepted appointments to the company's Board of Directors. Scott continues to serve as the chairman of the board. Hasan previously served as a vice president of sales and marketing for Viva, and has been also serving as the president of Viva Air Dominicana, S.A. He will continue as the president of Viva Air Dominicana. Dominguez has been serving Viva Airlines as chief operating officer and he will continue in that role. Septembre is the company's in-house counsel and his new position reflects added responsibilities. Miami-based Viva is seeking to begin airline service from its hub in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. CRUISES: Holland America Line has appointed Richard Meadows, CTC, as senior vice president-marketing and sales. Meadows will report to Stein Kruse, president and chief operating officer, and will have global revenue responsibility for marketing the cruises and CruiseTours of Holland America Line as well as the products of Windstar Cruises. He replaces David Giersdorf, executive vice president-marketing and sales, who resigned. In his new position, Meadows will oversee all product pricing, yield management, sales, marketing, public relations and other related activities for the company. Meadows, a 20-year veteran of the cruise industry, most recently served as senior vice president-sales and marketing at Seabourn Cruise Line. In that position, he was responsible for overall brand and product development, global strategic marketing and sales promotion. He also successfully re-branded the line in 2001 as The Yachts of Seabourn. Meadows has held positions in Carnival Corp. since 1984, including vice president, corporate marketing, Carnival Corp., and director of sales, Carnival Cruise Lines. From 1994 to 2000, Meadows served as vice president-sales and marketing with Windstar Cruises, a subsidiary of Holland America Line... Deborah Natansohn has been named president of Seabourn Cruise Line. Natansohn was most recently senior vice president of sales and marketing for Cunard, where she spearheaded the launch of the Queen Mary 2 and the re-branding of the line. Natansohn's appointment is part of a corporate restructuring in which the ultra-luxury, all-suite Yachts of Seabourn will operate as an independent brand within the Carnival Corp. Previously, Seabourn shared back-office functions with sister brand, Cunard Line, which is relocating to Valencia, Calif.. Seabourn will remain based in Miami. The two brands will continue to share their national field sales force, which remains intact. Natansohn succeeds Richard Meadows, formerly the line's senior vice president of sales and marketing. Prior to joining Cunard in 2000, Natansohn was president of Orient Lines...Sarah Johnson has been promoted to product manager for Windstar Cruises. She reports to Tom Russell, vice president-marketing and sales, and will be responsible for Windstar's revenue and inventory management. She will assist in planning and managing marketing strategies and will announce and track special pricing and promotions for the three-ship fleet. Johnson was promoted from her most recent position as marketing coordinator...Jeffrey Weinstock has been named director of international sales and marketing at Carnival Cruise Lines. He will report to Maurice Zarmati, vice president-sales. Weinstock spent seven years as marketing director for Latin America and the Caribbean at Sabre. Prior to that, he worked at a banking software company, Surecomp, Inc., in Canada and a multinational pharmaceutical firm, Teva, Ltd., in Israel. HOTELS & RESORTS: Hotelier Michael Sansbury, whose history with the industry in Central Florida goes back nearly 15 years, is leaving his job as regional vice president and managing director for Loews Hotels in Florida. Sansbury, who has held the position since 1997, is taking a new post with a group of Central Florida investors. Sansbury is the immediate past chairman of the Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association and still sits on its board of directors. Reports are that an interim management team is being assembled to manage the six Florida hotels that Sansbury was responsible for--the three properties in Orlando at Universal Orlando, Loews Miami Beach, Loews New Orleans and the Don Cesar in St. Petersburg Beach. Sansbury was honored last year as the Resort Executive of the Year by the Resort Management Conference. He had previously worked at hotels in Las Vegas, New York and Washington, D.C. He also was the opening general manager for the Walt Disney World Swan in 1990...Boxport, provider of the first outsourced solutions for hotel-branded retail programs and the ongoing re-order of operating supplies and amenities, appointed Maureen O'Grady as vice president of client services. O'Grady will be responsible for overseeing account management and client services for Boxport's ongoing retail and re-order accounts. Boxport's retail program allows guests to buy parts of their luxury experience--from the furniture, bedding, bath and spa amenities, and more--for their own homes. Before joining Boxport, O'Grady was director of brand management for W Hotels, where she oversaw brand standards and managed merchandising and retail efforts such as W Catalog, and W Stores...Aimbridge Hospitality, a hotel real estate and management company created to identify investment opportunities, has added a senior vice president of sales and marketing, Chad Goodnough, and senior vice president of development, Lynne Roberts-Guercio. Goodnough joins Aimbridge as a 16-year hospitality veteran and recently held the position of director of business travel sales for Wyndham International. While at Wyndham, he supervised a team of national sales directors as well as the director of travel industry relations-all of which worked to develop partnerships and increase marketshare from Fortune 500 and travel management companies. From 2000 through 2002, Goodnough was a member of the National Business Travel Association's Hotel Committee and was elected co-chair of the RFR sub-committee. Prior to joining Aimbridge, Roberts-Guercio worked with Wyndham International for over 10 years as vice president of development planning. While at Wyndham, she led acquisitions, new construction, management contracts, and conversion analysis. In her new role at Aimbridge Hospitality, Roberts-Guercio will be responsible for identifying prime investment opportunities and conversion analysis...Noble Investment Group, one of the hospitality industry's leading owners and operators of upscale and premium branded hotels, named Keith Alexander as general manager of the still-under-construction, 150-room Hilton Garden Inn & Conference Center in Suffolk, Va. Concurrently, Jennifer D'Alessandro was named director of sales for the hotel, which is scheduled to open in February 2005. Alexander most recently served as general manager of the Radisson Valley Forge in Pennsylvania. D'Alessandro began her career as reservations/revenue manager of the 1,620-room luxury Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas and has held a variety of sales-related positions at hotels nationwide. Most recently, she was the East Coast national association sales manager for the Norfolk Convention and Visitors Bureau. Previously, she was global sales manager of national accounts for Dolce International and director of national sales for Wyndham International...RoomLinX has hired Skip Rafferty as director of strategic partnerships. Rafferty has decades of experience selling telecommunications systems to the hospitality industry. He will work with the company to develop relationships and alliances to further the Company's market penetration. Prior to joining RoomLinx, Rafferty spent 18 years with the Bell System and AT&T Information Systems, holding management and executive positions overseeing New Jersey Bell's Hospitality and Health Care sectors. Rafferty also served as manager-major hotel accounts for RCA Business Telephone Systems, responsible for RCA's presence in upscale and luxury hotels. RoomLinX specializes in providing advanced WI-FI Wireless and Wired networking solutions for high-speed Internet access to hotel guests, convention center exhibitors, corporate apartments and special event participants...Loews Coronado Bay Resort has appointed David Devan as director of the resort's new 10,000-square-foot Sea Spa. Devan brings more than 17 years of spa experience at some of the world's finest hotels, cruise ships and resorts. In his new role, Devan will oversee the day-to-day operations of Sea Spa, including spa procedures, Resort Club memberships and programs, Spray Salon, fitness and recreation...The Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa has appointed three new executives to the resort's management team: Gene Roche, human resources director; James McAnally, rooms executive; and Troy Wood, director of catering and convention services. They report to the resort's general manager, Steve Dewire. As human resources director, Roche is responsible for benefit administration, compensation, recruitment and retention, employee and labor relations, counseling, safety and training and development. Prior to this position, Roche was assistant human resources director at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel. Prior to joining Hyatt four years ago, Roche served in the United States Air Force as a master sergeant, law enforcement specialist and military training instructor. McAnally manages the resort's rooms division including front office, housekeeping, guest services, security, reservations, recreation and spa. He most recently worked as rooms executive at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick Hotel in New Jersey. As director of catering and convention services, Wood oversees the selling and servicing of over 21,000 square feet of meeting space, plus over 50,000 square feet of flexible outdoor venues. He is also responsible for the hiring, training and motivation of all catering and convention services managers. A 16-year veteran of Hyatt, Wood most recently worked at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson. The Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa is located on 500 acres of the Santa Ana's reservation adjacent to the Sandia Mountains and the Rio Grande River in New Mexico. MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS: NYC & Co., New York City's tourism marketing organization, named Tim McGuinness as vice president of sales and convention center expansion. A 20-year veteran of the meetings, tradeshow and convention industry, McGuinness will lead the sales effort to grow New York City's convention business. NYC & Co. said the appointment is timed to coincide with New York's plans to expand the Jacob Javits Convention Center. McGuinness previously served in key executive positions at Reed Exhibition Companies for nearly 17 years, most recently as a vice president...Unicomm LLC said Kathleen Goodman has joined the ATE/Luxury Show Group as sales director. She brings over 14 years of tradeshow and 10 years of advertising experience to her new position. Goodman most recently worked at Advanstar Communications on its Luxury Travel Expo. The ATE/Luxury Group produce adventure and luxury travel trade shows and conferences. Goodman will be based out of Unicomm's Milford, Ct., location. TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY: Expedia, Inc. named Steven McArthur as president of Expedia North America, reporting to Erik Blachford, president and CEO of IAC Travel, a division of InterActiveCorp. McArthur, formerly executive vice president, Web services at America Online, Inc., assumes day-to-day responsibility of Expedia, Inc.'s North America operations, including management of the Expedia.com travel site. In his most recent position at AOL, McArthur led the company's Web and messaging services, including the Netscape portal, AOL instant messaging products, personals, network security solutions, and MapQuest. Previously, he served as president and CEO of AOL Canada...Accovia Inc., a leader in travel packaging technology, tapped Paul Robillard as vice president of sales and services. Robillard will be responsible for the continued growth and expansion of Accovia's customer base, which includes 40 travel companies in eight countries, including the United States, Canada and France. Robillard brings to Accovia two decades of experience in the high-technology industry, most notably in manufacturing, finance, consulting, telecommunications, e-commerce and networking. Prior to joining Accovia, Robillard served as senior advisor for AGTI Consulting Services Inc., where he was responsible for program management in the financial sector. Before that, he was sales manager for SHL Systemhouse, where he led the strategic management of an acquisition project in the energy sector. Robillard also has held senior management and vice president positions with BCE Emergis, Netscape Canada, Bell Canada, Worldlinx (Infornet) and IBM Canada. TOUR OPERATORS: Mary Ann Dwyer has joined New York-based Pacific Delight Tours as the sales manager-specialty markets, bringing more than 27 years of travel industry experience to her new position. Reporting to Andrew Miller, senior vice president of sales and special projects, Dwye will have primary responsibility for group and individual sales as well as working on customizing products for niche markets such as alumni, non-profit agencies and gay travel. Pacific Delight Tours is one of the largest providers of escorted and independent tours to China, the Orient and Southeast Asia, and in the past few years has expanded into Africa, the South Pacific, India and Turkey. Most recently a senior tour escort at AAA East Pennsylvania in Allentown, Dwyer was also formerly owner and manager of MAC Travel Adventures in Bethlehem, Pa., and executive director of the Bethlehem Tourism Authority.
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