Accor Middle East appoints Anthony Slewka-Armfelt as Director of Sales and Distribution

In his new position, Mr. Slewka will be responsible for providing effective coordination, support and direction to the inbound, outbound and intra-regional sales and sales distribution effort. Saudi Arabia will maintain a Director of Sales to boost productivity from the Saudi market.

Mr. Slewka is not new to the Accor environment, having previously occupied the position of Director of Business Development for Accor Hotels WTC from December 2003 to August 2006. His expansive list of duties in this role included directing revenue, sales, marketing, PR/communications and reservation operations for the opening phase of the Novotel and Ibis hotels. A team of 27 personnel spread across four departments were under his wing during this crucial, inaugural stage of operations. The fact that he met or exceeded revenue objectives in 29 out of the 32 months in this position, speaks volumes about his ability to multi-task and bring out the best in his team. Accor's presence in the high-profile Arabian Travel Mart during 2005 and 2006 were overseen by him.

'I am really excited to take up this position. The Accor Group is a great place to work and the Middle East is a truly global marketplace that is ideally suited to bring out the best in the hospitality industry' said Mr. Slewka.
Before joining Accor, Mr. Slewka worked as Vice President Business Development, for Paragon Technologies in Jeddah, KSA where he directed all Middle East business development functions for a private consulting company under the patronage of the former Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia. He also has a wealth of international experience in both the public and private sectors, with previous appointments taking him from Nairobi to Johannesburg and North America to several Pacific Rim and South East Asian countries. Mr. Slewka, from Ontario, Canada, graduated with distinction from Duke University in the United States.

His ultimate target will be to increase market share and revenue for the existing hotels, while developing the distribution network for Accor's four fold expansion to over 70 regional hotels in the next few years. Given his track record so far, he looks set to help achieve Accor's goal of becoming a leading hospitality company in the region.