CVBs/DMOs
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Sean Keliiholokai has been named executive director of Visit Dana Point (California), a new destination marketing organization that launched in June. Keliiholokai previously served as director of sales and marketing for the Greater Ontario (California) Convention & Visitors Bureau and formerly worked with the Hyatt Regency/Orange County, Marriott International and the Disneyland Resort.

Joshua Travers has been named executive director of the Oxnard (California) Convention & Visitors Bureau. Travers previously worked for the Bureau of Land Management, most recently as the Southern Nevada program lead in Las Vegas.

The San Diego Tourism Authority has promoted Kerri Kapich to chief operating officer, a newly created position. Kapich has more than 25 years of marketing experience and most recently served as the bureau�s senior vice-president of marketing.

Nikole Halaka has been appointed sales manager of Visit Berkeley (California). Halaka�s previous industry experience includes serving as conference sales coordinator at the University of California/Berkeley and as sales and catering manager at Hotel Durant, also in Berkeley.

Francis Darko has been named sales manager of Visit KC (Missouri), where he will handle the East Coast and Southeast markets. Prior to starting at the Kansas City organization, Darko worked for Northwestern Mutual as a personal financial representative.

Hospitality & Suppliers

Alex Ahluwalia has been appointed general manager of the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, California. Ahluwalia, a longtime resident of Hawaii, most recently served as general manager of the Ritz-Carlton/Kapalua on Maui.

Peter Carmichael has been named general manager of two Waldorf Astoria properties in Key West, Florida: the Casa Marina Resort and the Reach. He previously worked with the InterContinental Hotels Group, holding several global positions including director of operations in Indonesia, Indochina and the Philippines.

Jeff Smith has been appointed general manager of the Omni/Frisco, scheduled to open next summer in Frisco, Texas. Smith has been with Omni Hotels & Resorts for nearly 15 years, most recently serving as the general manager of the Omni/Dallas at Park West.

Bill Babis has been named general manager of the newly renovated Kimpton Muse Hotel in New York City. Babis most recently served as general manager of 70 Park Avenue Hotel, also located in New York City.

John Santaniello has been appointed managing director of the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. He most recently served as general manager of Ritz-Carlton properties in Vail and Bachelor Gulch (Avon), both in Colorado.

Jason Tresh has been named hotel manager of the Hilton/San Francisco-Union Square. Tresh was most recently the director of food and beverage at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York City.

DoubleTree Resort by Hilton/Myrtle Beach Oceanfront in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has hired Michael Frits as general manager and Joanna Patterson-Rizkallah as director of sales and marketing. Both assume their respective positions as the property (formerly the Springmaid Beach Resort) completes a multimillion-dollar renovation and repositioning this month. Frits most recently served as resident manager of the Hilton/Atlanta. And Patterson-Rizkallah, a 40-year veteran of the hospitality and tourism industry, most recently served as director of sales and marketing for the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

The Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center has appointed Sue Graves and Ryan Thorpe as assistant general managers of the SMG-managed facility, which offers more than 1.7 million square feet of flexible meeting space. Graves most recently served as area general manager of the Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center at the University of Cincinnati. Thorpe returns to the Greater Columbus Convention Center after serving as regional director of operations and director of facility operations for Chicago�s McCormick Place, another facility managed by SMG.

Gregg Herning has been appointed vice-president of sales at the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Herning most recently served as vice-president of sales for the MGM Grand.

Shannon Kelly has been named  director of sales and marketing at the Highland Dallas. Kelly most recently served as general manager of the Hilton/Melbourne-Rialto Place in Melbourne, Florida.

Elie Kik has been appointed director of sales and marketing at the Carlyle in New York City. Kik previously served as director of sales at the St. Regis/New York.

Nichole Dupre has been named director of sales and marketing at the Claremont Club & Spa in Oakland, California. Dupre has held various leadership positions at several San Francisco properties including the Palace Hotel and Park Central Hotel.

Lori Kendall has been hired as director of sales and marketing at the Yve Hotel Miami. She most recently served as director of sales at the Thompson/Miami Beach.

Jennifer Lewis has been appointed director of sales and marketing at Kimpton Hotel Monaco/Baltimore�Inner Harbor. Lewis has more than 25 years of industry experience and most recently worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as area director of sales and marketing for Hilton Hotels.

In the Caribbean, the Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa has promoted Morty Valldejuli to vice-president managing director and Marti Trieschmann to area director of sales and marketing. Valldejuli most recently served as the resort�s general manager and area managing director, while Trieschmann previously served as its director of sales and marketing.

The Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa, scheduled to open this month in Scottsdale, Arizona, has named Terri Benich as area director of sales and marketing, Peach Duty as director of events and Rachel Jessop as director of group sales. Both Benich and Jessop join the property from the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa, where they have worked for more than a decade. Duty previously worked at the Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas.

Trish Luckenbill has been hired as group sales representative for the Northwest region at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina. Most recently, Luckenbill worked in group sales at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Construction & Expansion

The Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort (formerly the Chaparral Suites) has opened in Scottsdale, Arizona, following a $25 million renovation. The resort features 312 guest suites and more than 60,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space.

The Oakland Marriott City Center in Oakland, California, recently completed a $22 million renovation of its 500 guest rooms and suites. In addition, the new M Club and Great Room restaurant are expected to be unveiled this winter. For meetings, the downtown hotel offers 89,000 square feet of space.

The W/Seattle has completed an $18 million renovation, which included a complete transformation of its 415 guest rooms and an update of its Trace restaurant and meeting spaces. The hotel offers 10,000 square feet of function space.

The 302-room Ridge Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada, has invested $2 million in the renovation of its 3,700-square-foot Castle Rock Event Space. It has expanded its clubhouse by 2,300 square feet and added two meeting rooms, bringing the property�s total indoor meeting space to 10,117 square feet. It also offers more than 10,000 square feet of outdoor space.

The Hyatt Regency/Bellevue on Seattle�s Eastside in Bellevue, Washington, has completed more than $1 million in technology upgrades to its auditorium and executive board room. The 732-room hotel offers 70,000 square feet of meeting space.

The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Avon, Colorado, has unveiled a new outdoor event space, the Grand Lawn, which can accommodate up to 275 people. The 180-room property offers more than 26,000 square feet of meeting space.

In Memoriam

Meetings industry veteran Dick Shaff passed away on August 2. Shaff recently retired after serving as general manager and vice-president of the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Shaff was part of the pre-opening team that launched Moscone South in 1984 and oversaw the renovation of Moscone North and South that was completed in 2012. In 2015, Shaff presided at the groundbreaking ceremony for the center�s massive expansion, which is currently underway.

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