Outrigger’s new senior appointees (l-r): Tony Pedroni, Jason Zvatora, Jenna Villalobos and Mike Shaff.

Beach resort brand Outrigger Hospitality Group has revamped its high ranking personnel, with four appointments to position it for long term growth.

The Pacific and Indian Ocean development specialist promoted Mike Shaff to senior vice president operations, the Americas; Jenna Villalobos to senior vice president commercial strategy and Tony Pedroni to vice president operations – APAC, while welcoming back Jason Zvatora in a new vice president commercial strategy – APAC role.

Americas focus

Shaff will lead both the hotels and resorts operations for the Americas region with a focus on creating positive guest experiences through programming, renovations and repositioning, while driving strong financial performance to ownership. He also assumes oversight of the Hawai‘i Vacation Condos by Outrigger division.

Shaff joined Outrigger in 2017 as vice president operations for Waikīkī with a resume of nearly 15 years in hospitality with KSL, including director of asset management for KSL Resorts – specifically overseeing four luxury resorts in Southern California and Arizona, each with different ownership and management complexities. He also served as the general manager of major luxury resorts in California, Miami and Arizona.

At Outrigger, Shaff led the repositioning and renovation of Waikiki Beachcomber by Outrigger; the transformation of the iconic Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort; and is currently leading significant renovations at Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa and the Ohana Waikiki East by Outrigger.

Global strategy

As senior vice president commercial strategy, Villalobos will continue to develop the global commercial strategy for both corporate and property, focusing on the disciplines of revenue strategy, global contact centre, CRM (customer relationship management), business intelligence and website technology.

She joined Outrigger in 2017 as vice president, revenue management overseeing development of the revenue management strategy for all of Outrigger’s properties in Hawai‘i, Fiji, Thailand, Mauritius and Maldives. With 25 years’ experience in total revenue management and reservation sales, Villalobos was corporate director of revenue optimisation at KSL Resorts. She also held various revenue management positions with KSL Resorts, including corporate director of reservation sales as well as director of revenue and reservations management where she oversaw revenue strategy during renovations and repositioning.

APAC renovations

Becoming vice president operations – APAC, Pedroni is now overseeing and directing all hotel operations in the Asia Pacific region. He first joined Outrigger in 2013 as general manager of the then Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort. Pedroni is an experienced global hospitality professional, having served as general manager for JW Marriott in Thailand; at the Renaissance in South Korea and the Waiohai Beach Club a Marriott Vacation Club Resort in Hawai‘i, as well as hotel management positions in Kuwait, the United Kingdom and Washington, DC.

Pedroni rejoined Outrigger last year as area general manager – Thailand when Outrigger became owner and manager of three Outrigger Resorts in Khao Lak, Surin Beach and Koh Samui. Pedroni has led the renovation of all three properties.

Perceiving Pacific trends

Zvatora is returning to Outrigger, this time as vice president commercial strategy – APAC, and is based in Australia. In his initial tenure he was corporate director, revenue management and distribution – APAC.

In his new role, Zvatora is responsible for driving APAC performance by leading and driving top-line revenue strategies, staying ahead of market trends and directing the property commercial teams to success.

He is a hotelier at heart, with close to 20 years of operational and commercial leadership. In his short break from Outrigger, he was the chief operating officer at Next Story Group where he spearheaded the hotel operations, sales, marketing and commercial strategy, as well as driving guest experience through highly differentiated brands.

Right leadership team

Jeff Wagoner, president and CEO Outrigger Hospitality Group, commented: “As Outrigger continues its strategic expansion, getting our toes in the sand with new beach resorts across the globe, having the right leadership team is imperative. From operations to revenue management – I have full confidence in the expertise of Mike, Jenna, Tony and Jason to navigate Outrigger towards our mission of being the premier beach resort brand in the world.”

In the last 10 months, Outrigger Hospitality Group has added five properties throughout the Pacific and Indian Ocean to its global portfolio: Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa on Hawai‘i Island; Outrigger Khao Lak Beach Resort, Outrigger Surin Beach Resort and Outrigger Koh Samui Beach Resort in Thailand; and most recently, the five-star Outrigger Maldives Maafushivaru Resort.

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