Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has appointed Sandy Russell as Vice President, Commercial Operations, Asia Pacific. She reports directly to Thorsten Kirschke, President, Asia Pacific and will be a member of the Asia Pacific Executive Committee.

In her role, Sandy will be responsible for driving revenue generation strategies in the region, across the disciplines of global and regional sales, revenue optimization, branding and marketing.

“We are delighted to have Sandy Russell join us in Asia Pacific, overseeing our commercial strategy which will see a greater focus on property performance and profitability for our 97 hotels. She will be a great asset to the team, bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will be invaluable as we move forward with our regional growth strategy,” said Thorsten Kirschke, president, Asia Pacific, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group.

Sandy has 21 years of experience in hospitality, of which 14 years were with Carlson Rezidor in sales and marketing roles including Senior Director of Revenue Generation, Director of Global Key Accounts as well as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing. At Carlson Rezidor, Sandy founded and chaired the Canadian Revenue Generation Committee for five years. Following that, she initiated Carlson Rezidor’s global MICE advisory board. In recognition of her achievement, she was presented with the President’s Most Valuable Player of the Year Award in 2008 and the Innovation Award in 2007. She also received the Carlson Hotels Top National Sales Award in 2007.

Sandy studied Sales and Marketing at Seneca College in Toronto, Canada. She has also served on several philanthropic boards including The Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and is also a founding member of Be The Change, that provides rehabilitation for children sold into sexual slavery in Cambodia.