PEOPLE update October 8, 2019

David Goldstein announced that he is very excited to be joining Chris Knight, CEO of Gusto Worldwide Media in the newly created position of chief operations officer on Nov 4th. Gusto is a vertically integrated media company with GustoTV on 10 platforms in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Singapore…with more coming soon. Reporting to the CEO, Goldstein's new role will oversee operations along with accelerating the momentum of their global growth strategy.

“I can’t imagine a greater marriage of my passions for media and the culinary world, while contributing to the global presence of a great Canadian media company,” said Goldstein.

“It’s been a distinct pleasure to work with great teams, both at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada and Destination Canada, where together we raised the profile and competitiveness of this important sector that builds economic success for Canadian companies from coast to coast to coast. To my friends in the travel and tourism sector, with whom I’ve journeyed now for almost a decade, let’s not consider this “adieu” but rather “au revoir”. Stay in touch, and I bid you all safe travels.”

Fraser MacDonald and Tiffany Chow have been promoted to director positions at Colliers International Hotels, based in Toronto.

Over the past three years, MacDonald has been a member of the Colliers national hotel brokerage team with a focus on strategic research, hotel valuations, proposal development and marketing activities. He has been involved in more than $3 billion worth of lodging transactions across Canada and the Caribbean. MacDonald started with Colliers in May 2013, beginning as a research assistant and quickly moving to a position as research analyst. Before that, he worked at Ryerson University for two years as a researcher and project assistant, as a conference presenter for the Canada chapter of the Travel and Tourism Research Association.

Chow has been with Colliers for more than seven years, with involvement in over $3.0 billion in deal volume, providing real-time market knowledge, property underwriting, and financial analysis in the preparation of hotel valuations, proposals, investment memoranda and strategic advisory assignments. She was also employed at the City of Toronto Economic Development and Culture department, as a teaching assistant at Ryerson University, and for a non-profit in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The InterContinental Toronto Yorkville welcomed Simon Chapman as general manager, effective September 16, 2019. A seasoned hotelier with over 20 years of global hospitality experience with InterContinental Hotels Group throughout North America and Europe. Most recently Chapman served as the hotel manager at the iconic Willard InterContinental Washington D.C., one of the most historic hotels in America. He simultaneously served as interim general manager at the InterContinental Times Square in New York City for six months. Chapman has worked for IHG in multiple locations and roles such as Crowne Plaza London Heathrow, InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile and the legendary InterContinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco. In 2013 Chapman relocated to New York City to take on the role as the director of rooms division at the historic InterContinental New York Barclay. Two years later, he was promoted to executive assistant manager at the InterContinental New York Times Square.

Kim Ball is now director of food services at Fern Resort, located near Orillia, Ont. She comes to the resort with a wealth of international and domestic experience in the hospitality industry. She holds Bachelor of Applied Science in Hospitality Administration from Southern New Hampshire University, has owned her own restaurant, and has taught at Georgian College's School of Hospitality and Recreation for 22 years.

Jenn Buerge has been appointed the new general manager of Harrison Beach Hotel. Harrison Beach Hotel is one of the True Key Hotels & Resorts properties in the Harrison Hot Springs, B.C. Buerge is relatively new to the True Key Hotels & Resorts company and comes from the position of general manager at fellow property, Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort. She has significant experience with front desk management, accounting, business administration and bookkeeping. Her career has included time as an entrepreneur with extensive experience managing high-performing teams in many of her roles. Originally from Abbottsford, Buerge relocated to the Parksville/Qualicum area 20 years ago and is now moving back to the Fraser Valley to take on this new role.

This dynamic switch has also lead the announcement of Tara Ryder as the general manager of Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort. This property is in Parksville B.C. and the True Key veteran will be overseeing the entire properties operations as well as lead staff. A seasoned veteran with True Key, Ryder began her management career while working with True Key as the guest services manager at Bighorn Meadows Resort in Radium Hot Springs, BC in 2004. After 15 years with True Key, Ryder brings a wealth of knowledge to Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort, having demonstrated her skills as a strong leader. Her tremendous human resources know-how and organizational ability makes her the ideal candidate to lead the resort to new levels of success.

Tom Tittel is the new general manager at Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport. Well known in the hospitality industry, Tittel was recently the interim GM at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, executive director of operations at Sunray Group and general manager at The Briars Resort and Spa in Jackson's Point, Ont. Prior to that, he spent three years as vice-president of operations, Canada, for SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts; was general manager of the Cambridge Suite Hotel, Toronto; and spent five years as vice-president of operations for Westmont Hospitality Group Canada. He also spent 10 years working for Interstate Hotels and Resorts as general manager of properties in Toronto, Orlando and New York.

Anish Taneja, senior vice-president at Palm Holdings has joined the board of directors of Residences Toronto at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. Taneja has been SVP at Palm for almost four years; prior to that he was the company's director of construction and procurement. Taneja was also recently named one of Hotel Management Magazine's Top 30 under 30 for 2019. Asked by the magazine to share some thoughts about the industry, Taneja said: “There are few businesses that run 24 hours such as ours and attracting the right people to help us manage our operations is very important. With the long hours and high standards, it requires us to constantly be on the ball. With its challenges there are also a lot of benefits where we are able to be part of an industry where there is always room for growth and your jobs can be highly rewarding.”