Movers and Groovers : Airbnb, Travelport, Hyatt, Delano Las Vegas hotel, All Leisure Group, Hurtigruten, Hotel Gotham, American Express

Maria Ersmaker has been named regional sales manager for the southern region at Hurtigruten. Ersmaker has replaced Lucy Hone in the role, who left the cruise line earlier this year. Ersmaker joined the cruise line in 2011 and her accounts will now include Iglu, Bath Travel, Advantage and Travel Network Group.

Jeff Ward has been announced as the managing director of Hotel Gotham, a new property in Manchester from Bespoke Hotels. Ward has joined the new hotel ahead of its opening in April 2015 on King Street. He has previously worked at Park Hilton Munich, Bristol Hilton International and The Grand Hotel Europe, St Petersburg.

Jennifer Charlton has been recruited as vice president/head of supplier relations for EMEA at American Express Global Business Travel. Charlton joins the company from Carlson Wagonlit Travel and will lead GBT’s supplier strategy in the EMEA region. She will be based in London.

James McClure has joined Airbnb

James McClure has joined Airbnb as UK & Ireland general manger. McClure was previously head of emerging markets for Singapore and South East Asia at Google. He will now be the primary ambassador for the brand in the UK and Ireland.

Thomas Murphy has been appointed general counsel at Travelport. Murphy joins the firm with more than 16 years’ experience as an in-house counsel, most recently at William Hill where he was responsible for regulating its US gaming business.

Maryam Banikarim has been appointed as Hyatt‘s new global chief marketing officer. She joins the Chicago-based hotel group with more than 20 years of marketing expertise across multiple industries. Most recently she was the first-ever chief marketing officer for US-based media company Gannett.

Sarah Lantzer has been named as European sales managers for the new Delano Las Vegas hotel. Lantzer will be responsible for group business and sales efforts in Europe as well as East Coast US, Midwest and Canada. She joins from MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Nick Taylor has also been appointed as a sales manager for West Coast US, Mexico and South America, joining from Mandalay Bay.

Written by:Amanda Greenwood