The VOILÀ Hotel Rewards Team
Peter Gorla
Managing Director & CMO
Peter joined HMC in May of 2004. Along with Mokhtar Ramadan, HMC’s CEO, Gorla founded and is leading the VOILÀ Hotel Rewards business unit. As the company’s senior marketing and product development executive, Peter focuses on bringing value to HMC’s hotel partners through the enhancement of our E-Commerce and CRM products. In addition, he is HMC’s vice president & CMO.
Prior to joining HMC, Peter was the Chief Marketing Officer for Taunovo Bay, a Fijian resort managed by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. Before Taunovo Bay, Gorla co-founded the successful Internet start-up MUSICVIDEOS.com, which was acquired by LAUNCH.com (now Yahoo! Music) where he served as the Vice President of Product Development. Gorla received a Bachelor of the Arts from University of California at Santa Barbara.
Twitter: twitter.com/petergorla | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gorla
Samira Demeis
Vice President – Europe, Middle East and Africa
Samira originally joined HMC in 2003 as Director of Business Development for the region.
Prior to HMC, Samira’s career was in the Hotel industry and spanned over 19 years in various countries and Senior Management positions. Initially with Best Western Australia in the role of National and International Sales and Marketing Manager, then with Accor in the positions of Director of Sales and Marketing, Executive Assistant Manager and General Manager before moving to Asia. In Asia Samira resided in Korea and China as Director of Business Development / Executive Assistant Manager for the Hilton Group.
Mayline Menendez-Sidoruk
Director of Business Development, South-East USA & Latin America
Mayline has over 20 years of experience in senior management positions within the sales, marketing and business development disciplines with name brands such as The Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Capella Hotel Group and Starwood amongst others. As the Director of Business Development, Mayline focuses in capturing and developing new business in the Southeast of the US and the Latin American market, including the Caribbean.
Prior to joining the VOILA team, Mayline worked with important Latin American associations such as the Confederation of Congress Organizers of Latin America (COCAL) and the International Congress and Conventions Association (ICCA) as well as other US based organizations such as Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Society of Incentive Travel Executives (SITE). She has been a speaker at industry conferences and trade shows, sharing her expertise in the areas of sales and business development, and served as Director of Sales in various Convention & Visitors Bureaus in the Caribbean. Mayline received a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of Puerto Rico and a Master’s degree in Multicultural Management from the University of Phoenix.
Twitter: twitter.com/mmayline | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/maylinesidoruk2009
Susan Hanson, GTP, CMP, CCTE
Director of Business Development, Western United States
In May 2014, Susan joined Hospitality Marketing Concepts to manage new business acquisitions for VOILÀ Hotel Rewards overseeing the Western United States. Susan is based in Northern California, and has over 20 years of experience within the hospitality industry as a Director of Sales and Marketing for hotels and resorts. She has also directed the development of sales and marketing departments for new properties and brand conversions in representing a hospitality management group in Arizona. Susan is proficient with marketing and revenue management strategies to achieve hotel growth initiatives.
Susan has achieved her third elite global travel and hospitality industry certification; the Global Travel Professional (GTP) designation in September 2012 from GBTA. She is also a Certified Corporate Travel Executive (CCTE) since August 2011, and a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) since August 2008 appointed by the Convention Industry Council. Susan has been presented with the “Eagle Award” for “Tenacity and Persistence in Sales” at the InterContinental Hotels Group Global Sales Summit. Additionally, she has achieved the Starwood Hotels and Resorts “Southwest Sales Achiever” for two consecutive quarters.
Francisco Araujo
Director of Business Development, Latin America
An 18-year loyalty marketing veteran, Francisco joined HMC in 2002 to head the business development in the Latin America and Caribbean regions. He has gained a broad experience in most aspects of loyalty marketing as he has participated in operations, marketing, IT and sales teams which allows him to understand the client needs from a most well-rounded and comprehensive perspective.
He has engineering and restaurateur background and is currently based in Mexico City.
Michelle Sandhu
Director of Business Development & Account Executive, Asia
Michelle Sandhu joined HMC in February 1998 as Director of Marketing. As HMC grew in Asia, Michelle moved on to become HMC’s Director of Business Development and Marketing Services for Asia. Towards the end of 2009, Michelle was moved to VOILÀ with the expanding growth in Asia Pacific and is the Key Account Executive for the region, involved in setting up, implementation and operations of VOILÀ programs in the region.
Prior to joining HMC, Michelle held several key positions in the hospitality industry including travel trade publications and hotels.
Katia Gohon
Account Executive, Europe
Katia joined VOILÀ as European Account Executive in 2011. Based in the UK, she is responsible for launching and expanding VOILÀ program across Europe. Her focus includes working with hotels to develop the marketing campaign, liaising with senior management to incorporate the program into the hotels, working closely to integrate VOILÀ into the client’s technology platform, ensuring high level of customer satisfaction and providing on-site training.
Born in France and obtain her Degree in International Relations in Portugal, Katia is multilingual in four languages (French, Portuguese, English and Spanish) and also experienced in working with the Northern Africa and Middle East sectors.
Esther Pisonero
Worldwide Customer Service Manager
Account Executive, Spain
In January 2010, Esther joined VOILÀ in Spain. Esther’s academic and professional background was in hotels, Quality & Standards and also Human Resources. That previous experience skills on Quality & Standards and Customer Service in Hotels, has contributed significantly to the development of the current VOILÀ program. Prior to joining HMC, Esther managed Quality & Standard department in the four-star Husa President Park hotel of 300 rooms in Belgium for three years. Before Brussels, Pisonero was free-lancer consultant in Latin America for Enterprises, helping to develop skills and enhance careers.
Richard Cawker
Vice President of Finance
Richard Cawker joined HMC in October 1997 originally based at the Corporate Headquarters, California he later moved to Europe to help manage the rapid growth in the EMEA region.
Prior to joining HMC Richard worked for Chantrey Vellacott, Chartered Accountants in London as a Senior Manager where HMC were amongst his client portfolio. Richard is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He also has a BSc Hons from Lancaster University.
Abed Chawa
Chief Information Officer
Abed joined HMC in 1990. He was one of the key people who built HMC’s IT Department to what it is today. Over the years, the IT department has grown from 3 staff members to over 20 IT professionals around the world. Abed is an 18 year veteran who had his hand in all major projects and contracts including non IT initiatives. During his time at HMC, Abed has earned extensive experience in all diverse and extensive IT disciplines and has been highly regarded for his creativity, commitment, professionalism and leadership. As part of HMC’s global management team, Abed Chawa is responsible for the IT Department infrastructure including hardware, software and personnel worldwide. In addition, he manages the company’s most important asset: the database.
Abed is a graduate of Northern Arizona University, USA in the field of Computer Information Systems. He had lived in the USA for 17 years and has travelled extensively around the world which gave him excellent international exposure to different cultures around the globe. He speaks and writes Arabic and English fluently. Now, and for the past 7 years, he is based in Dubai.
Hospitality Marketing Concepts’ Executives
VOILÀ is operated by Hospitality Marketing Concepts (HMC), a company with established expertise in loyalty programs for major hotel chains and independent properties since 1988. HMC’s offices span more than 50 countries in regions across the globe.
Mokhtar Ramadan
President & Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Ramadan, co-founder, is responsible for the overall leadership, direction and development of the Company. Prior to founding HMC, Mr. Ramadan served as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Compaq Computer GmbH from 1987 to 1988. Mr. Ramadan received a degree in Business Administration & Electronic Engineering and an MBA.
Marwan Ramadan
Senior Vice President and President of EMEA
Mr. Ramadan, co-founder, has served as Senior Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa since 1997. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Ramadan served as the Company’s Group Vice President, Americas. From 1988 to 1993, Mr. Ramadan led the Company’s international expansion efforts, initially targeting Canada and Europe. Mr. Ramadan holds a Masters of Economics.
Fadi Ramadan
Senior Vice President and President of Americas
Mr. Ramadan, co-founder, is responsible for the day-to-day management and strategic direction of the Company. Prior to his promotion to Senior Vice President in 2000, Mr. Ramadan served as the Group Vice President for the Americas (1997 to 2000), Group Vice President for EMEA (1992 to 1996), and Vice President of Operations (1988 to 1991). Prior to joining HMC, Mr. Ramadan worked for a predecessor company, serving as Manager of Sales and then as Director of Operations worldwide.
For more information regarding Hospitality Marketing Concepts and it’s executives, please see the company’s website.