SOURCE: Trump Hotel Collection
Trump Hotel Collection’s First Latin American Property Readies for Spring 2011 Opening
PUNTA PACIFICA, PANAMA–(Marketwire – November 23, 2010) – An expert management team is taking shape at Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower® Panama, slated to open in Spring 2011. Trump® Hotel Collection’s first Latin American property, Trump Ocean Club is destined to be the premier luxury hotel and residence on Panama’s Pacific coast. Rising 75 stories above Panama Bay, it will also be the largest hotel in Latin America.
“Our opening will mark the debut of the Trump Hotel Collection in Latin America, and I’m confident that there is no group of professionals better suited to uphold the brand’s unmatched service standards than the seasoned team we have assembled here,” said Vice President & Managing Director Mark Stevenson, who took the helm of Trump Ocean Club in June.
Thierry Baurez is a 15-year hospitality industry veteran who joins the Panama hotel as director of sales and marketing, a role he previously held for three years at Casa Dorada Los Cabos in Mexico. He has served in a series of management-level sales roles at exclusive hotels across Mexico, from corporate director of international sales for Camino Real Hotels & Resorts in Mexico City (2004-2007) to tour and travel manager of Marquis Los Cabos (2003-2004). Baurez also served as international sales manager for Camino Real Mexico City from 1999-2002, after completing an executive training program through the hotel’s parent company. In the early years of his career, Baurez honed his hospitality skills through internships with the Grand Hotel de Valciviere in his native France and with the Mexico Tourism Board. He holds a master’s degree in international business from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia; a degree in leisure studies and hotel management from the University of Ottawa in Canada; and a tourism business management degree from the Universidad Anáhuac in Mexico.
Sam Basu, the new director of operations, brings two decades of hospitality experience to his post, including six high-profile hotel openings for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. He joins Trump Ocean Club from the Rio Mar Beach Golf Resort, Casino & Spa in Puerto Rico, where he had served as resort manager since 2007. For 10 years prior, Basu rose through the managerial ranks of The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino. His experience there included executive assistant manager, director of rooms operations, and director of food and beverage. Basu joined the 416-room hotel as a restaurant manager in 1997, after serving in the same role at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort in Dorado, Puerto Rico. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from India’s Ranchi University and a diploma in hotel management catering and applied nutrition from the Indian Institute of Business Management.
Angelo Rios, director of finance, has cultivated a successful career managing the financial operations of some of the world’s most well-known luxury resorts. Over the past four years, Rios served as financial controller or acting financial controller for three properties in the Fairmont Hotels family, most recently the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa in Sonoma, California, and before that The Fairmont Newport Beach and The Fairmont Pierre Marques in Acapulco. He joined Fairmont in 2003 as assistant controller for The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club in Miami, after serving in the same capacity for Radisson Deauville Resort in Miami Beach (2002-2003) and Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel & Casino in Puerto Rico (2000-2002). Rios launched his career at Puerto Rico’s El Conquistador Resort & Country Club, rising from an accounting clerk to income auditor over a six-year tenure that began in 1994. He holds an MBA from the Interamerican University in San Juan and a BA in accounting from Turabo University in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
Carmelo Delgado Morales is the new director of facilities. He comes to Panama from Puerto Rico, where his career spanned 13 years in engineering, operations, and project management. Most recently, Delgado served as president of ITS, Inc., in Caguas, after five years as the engineering director at two leading hotels: Wyndham Rio Mar in Rio Grande (2007-2009) and the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan (2004-2007). For four years prior, Delgado supervised 15 employees in operations and project management for ETS, Inc., in Trujillo Alto. He served as operations manager for the San Juan shopping mall Plaza las Américas from 1998-2000 and as engineering director for the Caribe Hilton Hotel from 1997-1998.
Panama native Cynthia Palmer is Trump Ocean Club’s director of human relations. Backed by 14 years of human resources experience at a variety of Panamanian companies, she was most recently human resources manager for Grupo Premier, which includes Premier Electric Japan Corp; Radisson Summit Hotel and Summit Golf and Resort. Before that, she served in the same capacity for Panasonic Latin America SA (2005-2008). Palmer headed human resources operations for the Radisson Decapolis Hotel from its 2003 pre-opening through 2005, and entered the hospitality industry for the first time as human resources corporate assistant for the Riande Hotels Corporation (1999-2002). Her early experience also includes related roles at companies ranging from the Panama Ports Company to Group Corporativo Perez-TOYOTA.
The hotel’s director of residences is Silvana Gomez, who joined the Trump Ocean Club team in 2008 as administrative manager. In her previous role, Gomez was responsible for liaising with Panamanian public agencies and monitoring budget and legal strategies, among other duties, as development progressed. She held the same position previously for Portones del Mar Yacht Club and Resort (2007-2008), also in Panama, and development company Hogalia Panama (2006-2007). For three years prior, Gomez was a financial analysis team coordinator and Forex market analyst for VMG Latin America. Her education includes a post-graduate program in management abilities (specializing in strategic finances and control) at ADEN, Panama, and a finance degree from EAFIT University in Colombia. She is a specialist in stock analysis and portfolio management through the Institute of Stock Exchange Studies (Madrid Stock Exchange – Complutense University).
About Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama
Commanding the oceanfront on the exclusive peninsula of Punta Pacifica, Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama will rise 75 stories above Panama Bay, just minutes from the city’s financial district and within a 15-minute drive of the international airport. Evoking a majestic sail fully deployed in the wind, the hotel’s vanguard design by Aria Serna Saravia is destined to be an architectural icon throughout Central America. In addition to 369 spacious hotel rooms and suites, Trump Ocean Club will feature an international-caliber casino, two floors of exclusive-brand boutiques and shops, a business center, a private beach club on nearby Saboga Island, and a yacht club and pier. Guests also will have access to all the exceptional amenities and hallmarks of the Trump Hotel Collection brand, including world-class dining, the award-winning Spa at Trump, a fitness center and the signature services of the Trump Attaché. For more information, visit http://www.trumppanamahotel.com.
About Trump®Hotel Collection
Launched in October 2007, Trump® Hotel Collection is the next generation of luxury hospitality — one that is raising the bar in the top-tier travel experience with a level of customized service unrivaled in the market today. Presided over by internationally renowned developer Donald J. Trump and his three grown children — Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric — the prestigious portfolio includes the highly acclaimed Trump International Hotel & Tower® New York, Trump International Hotel & Tower® Chicago, Trump International Hotel™ Las Vegas, Trump International Hotel™ Waikiki Beach Walk®, and the newly opened Trump SoHo™ New York. Joining Trump Hotel Collection in early 2011 are Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower® Panama and Trump International Hotel & Tower® Toronto. Connect with Trump Hotel Collection on our social media pages.
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