INTERNATIONAL REPORT—Airbnb, New Castle and Lather are all adding to their leadership teams. Here’s more on the recent personnel moves:
Airbnb Appoints Catherine Powell as Head of Airbnb Experiences
Airbnb has appointed Catherine Powell as head of Airbnb Experiences. In this role, Powell serves on Airbnb’s executive team and leads Airbnb’s Experiences business, managing a team spanning five continents that works to grow the number of offerings available to travelers and support Airbnb Experience Hosts.
A veteran of the Walt Disney Company, Powell has lived and worked around the world over the last two decades to deliver immersive experiences to guests. Her appointment comes as consumers, particularly millennials and Generation Z, are increasingly choosing to spend their time and money on local, authentic things to do rather than on consumer goods. Launched in 2016, Airbnb’s Experiences segment has grown: Today, there are more than 40,000 experiences in more than 1,000 cities around the world.
New Castle Promotes John Wilson to VP Hotel Performance
John Wilson has been promoted to VP of hotel performance at New Castle Hotels & Resorts. In his new role, Wilson assumes responsibility for the operational performance of the company’s seven Canadian hotels and resorts as well as centralized accounting and special projects. Wilson previously was the general manager of the Westin Nova Scotian and served as regional controller.
Wilson joined New Castle in 1996 to help bring the shuttered Nova Scotian Hotel back to life as the first Westin-franchised hotel in the world. Most recently, he oversaw a multi-year, $16-million renovation of the hotel.
Lather Names Caroline King Chief Growth Officer
Lather, known for its synthetic fragrance-free beauty and wellness products, has named Caroline King as chief growth officer (CGO). The brand’s new CGO role is part of Lather’s continued expansion. The goal is to identify and pursue growth opportunities on the retail and hospitality side that will fuel revenue and profit for Lather. There will also be a focus on business development, sales and creating/refining processes. This new role will essentially ensure the business runs efficiently while focusing on scaling, according to the company.
In this CGO position, King’s main focus is developing a new big box retail business model and promoting a growth strategy for Lather to continue to expand in the natural beauty market and custom hotel space. King brings more than 12 years of experience in marketing and communications. Most recently, she served as VP of marketing and creative at Nasty Gal and held a prior leadership position at C Wonder.