City Lodge Hotel Group has appointed two new executive directors to its board, with effect from July 1.
Alastair Dooley has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the City Lodge Hotel Group. He succeeds Andrew Widegger who has been promoted to CEO of the group.
Dooley was previously the group’s Divisional Director: Finance, and a member of its Executive Committee (Exco).
Dooley, a Chartered Accountant, joined the group in 2009 and has been a member of the Governance and Finance sub-committee of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA). Furthermore, Dooley has been a board member of Tourism Marketing South Africa (TOMSA) since 2011, and was appointed Deputy Chairman in 2016. Dooley also served on the Board of Advisors of the South African Graduate Employers Association (SAGEA) between 2005 and 2015.
Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the City Lodge Hotel Group.
Sangweni-Siddo joined the group in 2015 as Divisional Director: Operations, and an Exco member. She joined the group from the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre, where she was CEO of the Birchwood Management Company.
Sangweni-Siddo holds a diploma in Hotel Management from the Swiss Hotel Association, Ecole Les Roches, Switzerland, as well as a BSc Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management from Penn State University in the US.
Sangweni-Siddo also serves as a board member on the Tourism BEE Charter Council.
The Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA) has appointed Michelle Du Plessis Managing Director, as of May 21.
With over 30 years in the tourism industry, Du Plessis brings with her a wealth of diverse experiences and information, from top management-level positions at luxury properties such as Phinda, Ulusaba, Kapama, Legend Lodges and Tintswalo Lodges, to independent consulting.
She will take on the responsibility of maintaining the high level of field and tourist guiding standards across southern Africa, overseeing the finances of the organisation, managing the membership and examination divisions, as well as maintaining relationships within the industry.
She takes over from Brian Serrao who is staying on with FGASA as Director of Standards. He says: “We are thrilled to have Du Plessis on board. She has the credentials and expertise to lead FGASA into the future.”
Sylvia Rasemann and Léon Noordermeer have taken over management of Severin Camp at Tsavo West National Park in Kenya.
Noordermeer began his career in France and the Netherlands, and has worked as an Operations Manager with a focus on food and beverages at Swahili Beach Resort on the Kenyan coast. In 2011, he was appointed General Manager at Mapito Tented Camp in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, together with Rasemann, who was previously the GM at Swahili Beach Resort.
"We are looking forward to a strong, dedicated couple with a vision that will enrich our team at Severin Safari Camp with its extensive expertise, consistency and peace of mind," says Severin Camp CEO, Sebastian Severin Schulte.
Rasemann's duties will focus on administration and operations, while trained chef Noordermeer will bring his previous hotel experience to the kitchen and guest services.
The appointment of Rasemann/Noordermeer also marks the end of an era at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro: for more than ten years, the German couple, Manja Seifert and Jürgen Pietz, have run the camp at the Tsavo River. Their focus was always to provide the guests with an unforgettable combination of adventure, relaxation and wellness with very personal service in the African wilderness.
Seifert and Pietz will return to Germany after a private holiday in Kenya. Back in Europe, they aim to look for new challenges in the hotel and gastronomy sector. "Seifert and Pietz have developed the camp into one of the leading safari accommodations in Kenya, and we wish them all the best on their further journey," concludes Schulte.
