IHG Appoints Chief Technology Officer

IHG appoints Daniel Blanchard as chief technology officer having 25 years of experience in IT business management, strategy, transformation, architecture governance, and program management. He will oversee infrastructure and operations, enterprise architecture, IT security operations, application development, and corporate support.

He served as the VP, IT infrastructure and reliability at Delta Air Lines. Prior to Delta, Blanchard spent more than 20 years at Marriott International in a variety of information technology leadership roles. He began his career at Boeing.

Valor Hospitality Co-founder Steps Down

 Valor’s U.S. and U.K. teams will commit significant resources across disciplines to ensure Valor’s Africa and Middle East services are bolstered with both local and global expertise.

The co-founder and managing partner of Valor’s Africa and Middle East divisions are joining Sun International Casinos and Resorts, a South African resort hotel chain and casino, as chief operating officer

Valor executives Michael Pownall, Tony Romer-Lee and McGlashan have restructured their roles to address needs created by Wood’s departure:

Pownall, co-founder and managing partner, Africa & Middle East, will head global branded operations.

Valor also welcomes Willie Williams as director of sales and marketing. Williams brings more than 20 years of senior corporate and independent hotel sales experience in Southern Africa to the team.

Spire Promotes From Within

Spire Hospitality has promoted Shozib Khan to VP of hotel performance and analytics. He brings more than 20 years of experience working in various positions in hotels and in a corporate capacity.

Alongside Russell, Khan will play a key leadership role in maximizing value through improved operations, analysis, service and overall company objectives.

Phoenix American Hospitality Adds Brad Cooke as Internal Wholesaler

A Dallas-based opportunistic hotel fund manager has added Brad Cooke to its distribution team as an internal wholesaler. He brings nearly a decade of experience. Previously, he was a regional sales consultant at Plano Capital Group with Highland Capital Management

He gained experience selling business development companies, REITs, mutual funds, interval funds, and 1031 exchange products