PEOPLE update June 11, 2019

Choice Hotels Canada, has added three new hires to its corporate team. Karen Tam has joined as chief financial officer & corporate secretary, Harpreet Kahlon as director, revenue management and distribution, and Katie MacDonald as director, loyalty and customer engagement.

“Karen, Harpreet and Katie bring a wealth of targeted experience to the company, making them well-suited for their new roles” said Brian Leon, President, Choice Hotels Canada. “We are thrilled to welcome them to the team and look forward to another exciting year of growth.”

As CFO, Karen Tam is taking over from Noreen Schembri, who held the role for more than 17 years before retiring this month. With more than 20 years of experience, Tam has an extensive background in corporate finance and operations. Prior to joining Choice Canada, she served as CFO and corporate secretary for the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services, CFO for the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, and held various roles at Morneau Shepell, Four Seasons Hotels Ltd, and KPMG. Tam is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst and U.S. CPA designations.

Prior to joining Choice Canada, Harpreet Kahlon was director of revenue management at Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel & Suites. With more than 15 years of hospitality experience, he previously served as commercial director for two Hilton properties in London, England. Working closely with ownership groups and the senior leadership team, he oversaw revenue management, distribution, sales and marketing efforts. With a proven track record of increasing RevPAR and market share, Kahlon’s role will expand on these key functions as he supports Choice Canada’s properties from coast to coast.

Katie MacDonald was previously at Marriott International, where she managed strategic global partnerships including Aeroplan, CAA, RBC and the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as collaboration with partners on creating various Marriott Member Moments. MacDonald has 16 years of diverse marketing experience under her belt that includes customer experience in hospitality, food service and banking. In her new role, she will lead loyalty at Choice Canada, with a focus on the Choice Privileges® loyalty program. This includes membership growth, program personalization and connection development designed to excite and engage customers and support franchisees.

Brendon Ainscow is the new general manager of the 195-room Holiday Inn Express Toronto Downtown, managed by InnVest Hotels. He comes to Holiday Inn Express from Silver Hotel Group, where he was general manager of the TownePlace Suites by Marriott. Prior to that he was regional general manager for Palm Holdings, with responsibility for the TownePlace Suites by Marriott and Quality Suites in London, Ont. Ainscow has also been a part-time professor at Fanshawe College in London, and has held GM positions at several properties including the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Windsor – Ambassador Bridge and Courtyard by Marriott Waterloo-St. Jacobs.

Hyatt recently welcomed Chrissy Dizon to the Americas Development team as development manager, based in the regional office in Toronto. Dizon reports to Scott Richer, Hyatt’s regional vice president of development for Canada. In this role, Dizon will be the primary contact with the hotel franchise community for the development and growth of Hyatt brands across Canada, and will coordinate all Canadian development trade shows, conferences and events. Dizon joins the Canada office after four years in the Chicago corporate office, gaining a wide range of experience with work in finance and most recently with the corporate feasibility team. She brings to the sevelopment team feasibility knowledge, as well as finance experience which is where she started with Hyatt in 2015.

The Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts board of directors has named John Davison the company’s president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Davison, a nearly 18-year veteran of Four Seasons, had been serving as interim CEO since the end of 2018. He joined Four Seasons’ executive ranks in 2002 and has served as chief financial officer since 2005. Davison also previously oversaw Four Seasons’ global residential business. Prior to Four Seasons, Davison worked for 14 years at IMAX Corporation — most recently as president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer — and for four years as a member of the Audit and Business Investigations Practices at KPMG in Toronto. Davison also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Canada Goose Holdings Inc., Benevity Inc. and IMAX China Holding Inc.

Crescent Hotels & Resorts Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of Kieran Roberts as general manager of The Broadview Hotel, effective May 31, 2019. Roberts previously held the positions of resident manager of the Shangri-La, Toronto, and EAM/director of rooms of the Shangri-La, at The Shard, London. He also spent many years in management roles at the Four Seasons Hotel London, Canary Wharf, and the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney. Roberts attended the Hotel School Sydney/Southern Cross University in Australia.

Radisson Hotel Group has appointed Jennifer Schneider vice-president of revenue optimization in the Americas. Prior to joining Radisson Hotel Group, Schneider has held various revenue management leadership positions at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Grand Hospitality, and Hertz. Most recently, she led a team of more than 80 franchise revenue management team members at Wyndham and expanded the company’s revenue management program to service more than 900 hotels. Schneider also led the development and re-engineering of Wyndham’s revenue tools and technologies for more than 6,000 properties in North America and served as department lead on multiple IT and revenue management projects.

True Key Hotels & Resorts (True Key) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sheri Madill as area general manager – Sooke. Her role will be to manage the True Key properties located in Sooke including Sooke Harbour Resort & Marina and SookePoint Ocean Cottage Resort. Madill's move to the area general manager comes after seven years at Sooke Harbour Resort & Marina, two years in which she has been the general manager. Her keen sense of enthusiasm and commitment, as well as her extensive knowledge of the True Key properties and the Sooke area, places her in an excellent position to take on this new challenging role.