Haley Kennel
New Orleans hotel The Windsor Court promotes Kennel to director of catering and conference services. She will oversee all catering and conference planning at the property. Since joining The Windsor Court five years ago as corporate sales/events manager, she has consistently generated new business. Through partnerships with the hotel’s culinary team, she has completely overhauled the property’s banquet menus to achieve highly celebrated offerings.
Carrie Felix
Felix is appointed to the role of general manager at Cuthbert House. She brings a diverse background, having worked in the realms of hotels, restaurants and events. Her deep commitment to offering exceptional guest experiences will underlie her leadership of the hotel in offering its renowned Southern hospitality.
James Winning
Winning is named director of sales and marketing for Pendry Manhattan West. He brings 19 years of experience to this role, in which he will oversee sales, marketing and public relations efforts for the property. Previously, he served as director of sales and marketing at Pendry Chicago.
Davide Barnes
Halekulani Corporation promotes Barnes to serve as general manager of Halekulani. He began as hotel manager in January 2023, and since then been a leader in service excellence consistency. He will continue to direct daily operations and support areas of Halekulani. In addition, he will oversee and support operations and performance of its sister hotel Halepuna Waikiki by Halekulani.
Christian Peterson
Peterson takes on the role of director of business development for Visit Dana Point. He brings nearly two decades of marketing and sales experience to his new role, in which he will oversee Visit Dana Point’s expanded efforts in the travel trade sector and work to ensure a strong presence in the group space through fostering the organization’s partnership with Visit California and its California Road Show, organizing familiarization trips and collaborating with the local community.
Kristin Hankins
InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel appoints Hankins to the role of hotel manager. She brings over two decades of experience. Most recently, she served as director of sales and marketing at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, where she led the team that produced strong revenue increases throughout its post-pandemic recovery, and has exceeded revenue goals through strategic business leadership throughout her career.
Andrew Carroll and Sara Bell
Louisville Tourism appoints two professionals to its Convention Development department.
Carroll takes on the role of national sales manager and will handle the education, cultural and union market segments that utilize 301 or more hotel rooms on peak event nights. He most recently served as national sales manager at Omni Hotels and Resorts, where he managed national associations and corporate accounts in the Midwest and Southeast, and earlier served as director of sales at White Lodging SpringHill Suites and Fairfield by Marriott.
Bell is appointed to the role of convention sales assistant. She will support several of the department’s sales managers. Most recently, she worked as the assistant taproom manager at West Sixth Brewery, where she led various initiatives, including implementing diversity training, for which she was nominated for the 2023 Louisville Tourism Rose Awards. In an earlier role as event manager at Fourth Street Live, she oversaw event planning for small gatherings to large-scale productions.
Laurie Ihara
Ihara takes on the role of senior director of sales, single property, for the Hawai’i Visitors and Convention Bureau (HVCB). She will be responsible for collaboratively leading and developing strategy for Meet Hawai’i’s single property team. She brings over 25 years of experience working with world-renowned travel and hospitality brands in sales and marketing roles and a successful track record of sales excellence and leadership and business development.
Heriberto Peña
As spa & gallery manager at Banyan Tree Veya, Valle de Guadalupe, Peña will oversee the property’s wellbeing programming, rooted in Banyan Group’s wellbeing brand, Veya, which encourages a unique, lifelong wellbeing journey for all individuals. Peña brings over a decade of experience in the luxury spa and wellness sector. He has spent time in India and Thailand to study Eastern medicine and philosophy and continues to further his education with certifications in meditation, herbology, sound healing therapy, reiki, crystal healing, yoga and more.
Tony Phillips
Bobby Hotels appoints Phillips as general manager of Bobby Nashville. He brings over 25 years of extensive experience in hotel management along with a progressive vision rooted in servant leadership to guide the independent lifestyle hospitality brand and its local-centric approach at the Nashville location. He is known for being a results-focused leader with a passion for people and teambuilding.
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