PEOPLE update September 24, 2019

Scott Duff is now at Wyndham Hotel Group in the position of regional vice-president, franchise sales and development, based in Toronto. Duff is well-known in the Canadian hotel industry and has more than 28 years of hospitality experience. He comes to Wyndham from CBRE Canada, where he was vice-president for three years. Prior to that, Duff spent almost 12 years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, as senior director development for Canada and Alaska. During his time there, his key accomplishments included opening the world's first Aloft Hotel in Montreal. He also spent almost eight years as vice-president franchise development for Choice Hotels Canada, managing a team of four development directors, resulting in more than 130 transactions.

Tourism Toronto has announced the appointment of Scott Beck as president and CEO. For the past 14 years, Beck has served as the president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake in Salt Lake City, UT, and will begin his new role on October 15. A proven leader in the destination sales and marketing industry, Beck served on the executive committee of Destinations International for six years and served as the organization's international board chair from 2014-2015. Before joining Visit Salt Lake, Beck worked in the hotel industry for 18 years, most recently with Ocean Properties Ltd. (OPL) as the general manager of the Salt Lake Marriott City Center. While at OPL, Beck spent time in B.C. and Alberta working on a task force with OPL's Canadian affiliate, Atlific Hotels. Prior to his time with OPL, he served as director of sales and marketing for Sundance Resort in Provo, Utah.

Anthony Campaniaris has moved to Warsaw, Poland as general manager of the Nobu Hotel Warsaw. For more than three years, he was the pre-opening and general manager of The Anndore House in Toronto, starting in 2016 before the 115-room, four diamond property opened its doors. Under his leadership, The Anndore House won a number of awards including: Certificate of Excellence 2019, TripAdvisor; Best Hotels in Canada 2018, Hotel Addict; Top Toronto Hotels 2018, Conde Nast Traveller; Best Hotel in Toronto 2018, Toronto Life Magazine; and Best Hotel Restaurant in Toronto 2018, BlogTO. Campaniaris is a seasoned hotel executive who has also worked as director of sales and business development at the Shangri-La Toronto, director, hotel operations at Hazelton Hotel Toronto, and at Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton, The Metropolitan and The Granite Club, all in Toronto.

The Pangea Pod Hotel – Canada’s first capsule hotel – has appointed a group general manager, a position that will be key to sustaining and building upon Pangea’s success.
 Virender Sehgal comes to Pangea from Auckland, New Zealand. A highly qualified hospitality professional, he brings to Pangea more than 15 years of experience spanning both luxury hotels and budget accommodation including hostels. Most recently, he was group general manager for YMCA New Zealand, where he oversaw both its Hostel and City Lodge operations across multiple locations. He previously served in a similar role at Base Backpackers and Nomads Hostels, the largest budget-accommodation provider in New Zealand and Australia. His resumé also boasts successful tenures with the Scenic Hotel Group (New Zealand’s largest independently owned hotel group) and the New Zealand Institute of Education.

American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has announced that Paul Abbott will assume the role of chief executive officer, effective October 1. Abbott replaces Doug Anderson who is stepping down after three years driving transformation and growth. Abbott joins from American Express, where he is currently chief commercial officer, Global Commercial Services, the company’s global B2B payments business. He has also served on the GBT board for the last four years. Abbott’s experience at American Express is a strong fit for GBT both because of the strategic relationship between the companies and their common focus on the customer experience.