People on the Move at Marriott, Blue Sky, IHG; More…

NATIONAL REPORT—Hospitality companies have made additions and promotions to their executive leadership. Here’s a look:

Marriott Names Chief Information & Digital Officer

Marriott International has appointed Jim Scholefield chief information and digital officer (CIDO), effective February 24. In this role, Scholefield will be responsible for leading all aspects of the company’s information technology and digital strategies.

Most recently, Scholefield was CIDO at Merck & Co. He led Merck’s information technology and digital strategy to drive efficiencies, strengthen the security of the infrastructure and support the company’s growth.

Prior to Merck, Scholefield was chief information officer at Nike, where he led digital transformation and enterprise IT capability improvements for critical infrastructure and cybersecurity. He also spent five years as CTO at The Coca-Cola Company, leading the company’s transformation to cloud technology, and held leadership roles at The Northern Trust Company and Ford Motor Company. He began his career at Procter & Gamble.

In September 2019, Marriott’s chief information officer, Bruce Hoffmeister, announced his decision to retire after 30 years with Marriott. Hoffmeister is staying with the company through mid-2020 to help with the transition.

Blue Sky Hospitality Solutions Adds to Corporate Team

Blue Sky Hospitality (BSHS) has expanded the bench strength of its corporate team by naming Amanda Lynch VP of revenue management and promoting Michael Newman to corporate director of sales & marketing.

In her former role, Lynch oversaw revenue management for 12 hotels across eight major markets, including Chicago; Seattle; San Jose, CA; Anaheim, CA; and Atlanta. She has held numerous sales & marketing roles in addition to revenue management and has experience in all major hotel brands. Prior to joining BSHS, Lynch was corporate director of marketing and revenue management with The Dow Hotel Company.

In her new role, she provides direction to the on-property revenue management team in order to maximize revenue and increase market share through the areas of pricing, distribution, revenue optimization, digital marketing and analysis.

Newman has worked for multiple hotel management companies, including 11-plus years with Hyatt Hotels, as well as stints with Millennium Hotels, Magna Hospitality, Interstate Hotels and Melia Hotels. He has worked as director of sales and marketing at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, Grand Hyatt New York, The Millennium UN Plaza and Inside New York, among others.

IHG Appoints Rothstein to Board

IHG has appointed Sharon Rothstein as an independent non-executive director of the company. She will join the IHG board effective June 1, 2020.

Rothstein currently serves as operating partner of Stripes Group, a growth equity firm investing in high-growth consumer and SaaS (Software as a Service) companies. She previously served as EVP, global chief marketing officer, and subsequently, as EVP, global chief product officer for Starbucks Corporation.

In addition, she has held senior marketing and brand management positions at Sephora LLC, Godiva Chocolatier Inc., Nabisco Biscuit Company and Procter & Gamble Company, and brings insights and experience in the hospitality industry, having also held senior roles at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

She is a director of Yelp Inc., and serves as a board member for private companies: True Food Kitchen Inc., LOLA and Levain Bakery Inc. She will serve on the audit and corporate responsibility committees of the IHG board.

Meliá Hotels Adds Rivera

Meliá Hotels International (MHI) has appointed Santiago Rivera as its area managing director for MHI hotels in the Dominican Republic.

In his new role, Rivera not only leads the resorts in the Dominican Republic, but also other Meliá businesses such as the casinos, golf and club operations. In this position, he oversees Meliá Punta Cana Beach Resort, Meliá Caribe Beach Resort, Paradisus Punta Cana Resort, Paradisus Palma Real Golf & Spa Resort and The Grand Reserve at Paradisus Palma Real.

Most recently holding the position of general manager of Meliá Caribe Beach and Meliá Punta Cana Beach, he brings with him almost two decades of experience and leadership in hospitality in his new role. Rivera joined the Meliá team in 1999.

Forbes Travel Guide Names Head of Innovation & Strategy

Forbes Travel Guide has hired Stuart Greif as head of innovation and strategy.

Greif will focus on innovation and strategy for the company, which currently evaluates, verifies and supports service excellence and exceptional guest experiences with luxury hospitality organizations in 73 countries. He brings more than 20 years of experience, focused at the intersection of hospitality, customer experience and technology.

He led J.D. Power’s global hospitality and travel group, partnering with many of the world’s leading luxury brands. He also led strategy globally for J.D. Power, developing new offerings that enabled companies to elevate their service delivery and customer experience. He brings a strong digital background to Forbes Travel Guide, having served as Microsoft’s senior executive for hospitality and travel, leading innovative solutions for the travel industry. He started his career in consulting at Accenture.