This is a roundup of news and announcements for PEOPLE moves in travel, tourism and hospitality for December 2015:
Tuesday 22 December
New MD for OpenJaw
- GuestLogix has named Riccardo Navarro as managing director for OpenJaw, the Irish travel tech firm it bought last year. Navarro is promoted from running OpenJaw's Spanish and Latin American operations.
Friday 18 December Hogg Robinson Group promotes Brindle
- Bill Brindle, chief information officer at HRG has been appointed to the company's board as an executive director. Brindle has been with the company 18 years.
Thursday 17 December Springer-Miller names new CEO
- Michael McCarthy is to formally become president and CEO of the hospitality management IT provider. He was previously vice president and general manager for Dealertrack Technologies in Canada and has had stints at D+H, Scotiabank and Roynat Capital.
Monday 14 December Travelport hires new CFO
- Bernard Bot will replace incumbent Philip Emery as executive vice president and chief financial officer from 1 January 2016. The Dutchman joins from Irish airline Aer Lingus where he spent 15 months as CFO, with previous roles at TNT Express and McKinsey. Emery is stepping down from the role to take a career break after steering Travelport through its IPO in September in 2014.
15below appoints its first CEO
- The UK and Australia-based passenger communication system provider has selected Nicholas Key to the top role, alongside his existing role as commercial director for the company. Key started 15below with co-founder John Clynes in 2000 and has since seen the company grow to have 45 airlines and travel brands on its roster. He previously worked for SITA and American Express.
Wednesday 9 DecemberEMEA rejig at Travelport
- Travelport has announced a number of promotions within its agency-facing EMEA business:
Rabih Saab, formerly leader for Africa, Middle East and South Asia, now has Europe as part of his brief;
Marcin Pilarski moves from running the Eastern European region to head up product and marketing on a global basis for agency-facing teams;
a newly created Southern Europe and North Africa region will be headed up by current Western Europe boss Damiano Sabatino;
UK, Ireland and Nordics chief Simon Ferguson also takes on the Benelux region, Germany, Austria and Switzerland and now runs Northern Europe, resulting in Paul Broughton taking over the UK and Ireland with Peter Cramon heading up the Nordics.
Ola finds Joy,
Didi says Yahoo
- Indian transportation app Ola has named Joy Bandekar as corporate president in charge of new initiatives. He joins from Flipkart, India's leading e-commerce marketplace. The appointment comes a few days after Ola confirmed it was joining Rides Everywhere, the global ride-sharing alliance launched by US-based Lyft and China's Didi Kuaidi. Meanwhile, Didi has announced that Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang has joined its board as its senior advisor.
TrustYou expands into Japan
- German-based online reputation management company TrustYou has named Kazuyoshi Shimojima as managing director. He will run its newly-opened headquarters in Japan as the business looks to build its presence in Asia, having opened its Singapore office last year. Shimojima's CV includes stints at Groupon, Rakuten Travel, Agoda and Octopus Travel.
Bodini jacks it in
- Accommodation wholesaler JacTravel has confirmed that CEO Mario Bodini is stepping down after 35 years in charge, having overseen its shift from a traditional European inbound tour operator to a leading global online B2B hotel supplier.
Monday 7 DecemberSITAOnAir gets new CEO
- David Lavorel moves up from his current position as senior vice president for corporate development and replaces Ian Dawkins who has left to pursue other opportunities. The new SITAOnAir boss joined SITA in 2000 as head of its then France Telecom Partnership and has since had an important role as vice presidents of mergers and acquisitions.
Friday 4 DecemberCapita gets head of digital strategy
- Paul Saggar joins as director of the newly created role, overseeing digital strategy across travel and events part of the service provider. He joins from Maybourne Hotel Group and has previously worked for Travelport and HRG.
Wednesday 2 December Amadeus hires head of corporate IT for APAC
- Frederic Saunier will report to Florian Tinnus, global head of corporate IT. Saunier was previously sales director for Amadeus France and has also held several senior sales positions for Air France-KLM in the UK and France.
Tuesday 1 DecemberKDS opts for Ott as chairman
- Alex Ott has been a board member of the company since 2007 (alongside his role as CEO of CrossContinentalVentures) and replaces Gilles Sarnoun. Other changes at the company include the appointment of Kate Roe as vice president of marketing and ex-Salesforce exec Gary West who will join as vice president of alliances.
NB: People moves in travel image via Shutterstock.