Cycas Hospitality has made a significant new investment in its commercial team, welcoming four new sales and revenue management leaders to help the business deliver the next stage of growth.
This investment follows the appointment of Neetu Mistry as Cycas’s first Commercial Director last November. The new position saw Neetu take on responsibility for the hotel management company’s revenue, sales and marketing activity, strengthening Cycas’s central hotel support and accelerating performance across Europe.
Mark Upham joined Cycas this summer in the newly created role of Group Director of Sales. With 20 years’ experience of driving commercial returns in the hospitality industry, Mark brings considerable expertise in identifying strategic corporate partnerships, maximising sales processes and developing sales teams, both on and off property. Mark joins Cycas from IHG, where he spent 15 years in a variety of sales leadership roles. As a Senior Key Account Director in the European Travel Partner Sales team, Mark led the UK meetings and associations team, and was responsible for sales strategy and effectiveness, including launching the Business Advantage platform.
More recently, the Cycas commercial team was further strengthened by the appointment of Kelly Chappell as Group Director of Revenue. With 19 years’ hospitality experience, Kelly joined Cycas from Westmont Hospitality Group where, as Group Revenue Manager, she spent two years providing strategic commercial direction, support and training across 50 hotels and numerous international brands. Prior to joining Westmont, Kelly held senior revenue management positions with several of the major, global hotel brands, including IHG, Hilton and Marriott.
Cycas has made further investments in the revenue management team over recent months, with the appointments of Cluster Revenue Managers Lewis Paxford and Graziella Marcellino, who bring experience of working across international hotel brands in several European countries.
Cycas’s marketing team is headed up by Camille Lorigo, who joined Cycas Hospitality as Director of Marketing in November 2017. With 11 hotel brands and two independent properties currently within Cycas’s fast-growing portfolio, Camille’s mix of hospitality and brand experience has been instrumental in helping the team drive customer engagement and market share.
Speaking of Cycas’s evolving commercial direction, Neetu said: “In the last year alone we’ve doubled our property portfolio and partnered with two new international hotel groups, so this is a really exciting time for Cycas. With nearly two thirds of our pipeline now in continental Europe, it’s vital we invest in our team to make sure we have the best structure in place to support our incredible growth.
“Cycas has long been known for its outstanding culture and guest service, and I’m confident we now have the right commercial direction and talent to deliver the best commercial returns in Europe.”