Chris Walker has been appointed Senior Vice President Global Sales at The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd (LHW)
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd, a collection of more than 400 independent, luxury hotels in over 80 destinations, is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Walker to the position of Senior Vice President, Global Sales, effective as of July 11, 2019. Walker will be based in Leading Hotels' New York headquarters and will report directly to Interim CEO Shannon Knapp.
As Senior Vice President, Global Sales, Walker will be responsible for leading the global sales organization and strategy across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. He will be focused on ensuring alignment across the more than 20 sales locations throughout the world to drive maximum impact for Leading Hotels' members and the company's global client base. Walker's appointment is a return to Leading Hotels, where he previously spent four years serving as Senior Vice President, Sales-Americas. In this role, Walker was responsible for streamlining sales efforts while driving double digit annual hotel revenue growth within some of the company's largest offices. He oversaw technology implementations to increase sales efficiency and process redesign to enhance relationships with hoteliers and critical sales accounts.
Walker brings more than 20 years of hospitality and marketing experience, starting his career at Hyatt. There he held various positions within the organization, including Vice President of Brand Experience for four of Hyatt's brands, and Director of Partner Marketing. Walker also held positions at American Express in their Service Delivery Network and Consumer Travel Network leading Fine Hotels & Resorts, American Express' Luxury Hotel program for Premium Card members.
Effective September 13, 2019, Philip Ho will step down from his position as Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Ho has served as a passionate people leader at Leading Hotels over the past ten years, guiding his team in growing revenue from Asia Pacific by 150 percent since 2010 and from Europe and the Middle East by 75 percent since 2013. Ho has also been instrumental in driving growth for member hotels from emerging markets specifically mainland China, India and the Middle East. Ho will work closely with Walker over the next eight weeks to create a seamless transition for the organization.
