G2 Travel has opened its second office in the United States in El Segundo California. Katja Jahn (left) has been appointed head of destination management Western US/Canada and will be leading the growing team out of this office. Jahn was previously with ATI and YMT, responsible for product development. G2 Travel’s U.S. division headquarters is located in New York City where Gary Vetri has been appointed head of destination management Eastern US/Canada, expanding his role within the company. Also, Leann Visser, formerly operations manager for Kuoni USA was recently appointed general manager. The company was founded by David Babai and seven former managers from GTA in 2012 and will be expanding their custom group receptive operation in the U.S. and Canada significantly.
Marcelo Barone is the new commercial manager of Stella Barros Turismo. A 13-year veteran of the Brazilian tour and travel industry, Barone’s resume also includes a tenure at CVC, where he was manager of products for the United States and Canada. He takes on his new position at Stella Barros with the mission of expanding the brand in Brazil and expanding the number of 
licensed stores.
Paula Vlamings has been named the new CEO of Tourism Cares. She succeeds Mike Rea, who will serve as an integral partner during the transition process to support Vlamings and the goals of Tourism Cares as senior program advisor. Vlamings, who has broad experience in the tour and travel-related business, is the former executive director of the Planeterra Foundation with G Adventures and provided senior sustainability leadership to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy’s Institute at the Golden Gate.Vlamings will relocate to the Boston area to lead the staff from the organization’s 
headquarters in Norwood, Massachusetts.
In Germany, Frank Straka has been named the new managing director of Kurz Mal Weg (Short Time Away). In November 2016, Fit Reisen took over the travel portal Kurz Mal Weg from the insolvency estate of Unister. After completion of the reorganization, the company decided to start with the new managing director. Straka is currently working for the package travel specialist Kästl Ost-Touristik and will start his new job at Kurz Mal Weg on April 1st.
Trend Group‘s sales management in São Paulo now has a new executive: Noah Britto, who previously served as manager of Abracorp, which is now a part of CVC. Britto now leads a team of more than 20 people, including Sales executives and employees.
Lisa Messina has been named vice president of sales at Caesar’s Entertainment. In her new position, Messina will oversee Caesars’ sales strategy for meetings and events worldwide. She joins the company from Hilton Hotels, where she was executive director of intermediary group sales. Before her tenure at Hilton, Messina served as chief marketing officer at ConferenceDirect.
As part of the reorganization of its planning, purchasing and control divisions, DER Touristik has appointed Sven Schikarsky as the new head of capacity and revenue management for all tour operator brands. He takes his place on April 1st. Schikatsky was most recently managing director, touring packages, at FTI Touristik until the end of 2017.
Mary Twomey is the new vice president, global trade and consumer development for the Illinois office of Tourism. Twomey, well-known in the industry for the 25 years she spent with Chicago’s Essex Inn, was most recently with TimeZoneOne, a Chicago-based advertising and design company, for just over a year.
