Bird rejoins Grand Hyatt Kauai Blair Bird has re-joined the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa as sales manager, covering the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast Mainland territories, announced Katy Britzmann, director of sales, in a press release. Bird has been
Bird rejoins Grand Hyatt Kauai
- Blair Bird has re-joined the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa as sales manager, covering the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast Mainland territories, announced Katy Britzmann, director of sales, in a press release.
Bird has been with Hyatt for seven years, starting out as a front-office agent at Hyatt Regency in Lexington, Ky. in 1998. He was promoted to front-office supervisor at the Lexington property in 1999, and promoted again to hotel assistant manager at that property. In April 2001, he transferred to the Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa in Po’ipu (now the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa) as assistant front-office manager, and was promoted to front-office manager in 2003.
In July 2004, he moved to Pebble Beach for a short hiatus, and received some in-depth training in operations, then returned to Kaua’i in late December. His new responsibilities include over-seeing the small-meetings market.
“We’re delighted to have Blair back at the Grand Hyatt,” says Britzmann. “He offers a knowledge of the hotel and its operations, which translates to excellent salesmanship, and he has a winning personality that makes him a natural fit on the Hyatt sales team.”
Within two weeks of his joining the team, Bird was successful in finalizing a contract for a group visit. “I feel very fortunate that this opportunity in sales opened up at just the right time for me,” says Bird. “I’ve always loved Kaua’i. My grandmother, now 80, was born and raised in Kalaheo. It’s good to be back home in the midst of the aloha spirit that you just can’t find anywhere else.” Bird enjoys tennis, surfing and golf, and lives in Kalaheo.
Hawaiian Airlines January results told
- Hawaiian Airlines officials reported January 2005 results surpassed those reported in the same month last year, in passengers carried (486,634 versus 443,784, up 9.7 percent), revenue passenger miles (577,899, up 9.3 percent from 528,900), available seat miles (660,216, up 6.2 percent from 621,812), and load factor (87.5 percent, 2.4 percentage points better than 85.1 percent).
Mangan offers ‘Sweetheart’ deals
- Tony Mangan, of Tony Mangan Realtor, has bettered his own new year’s pledge to pay one-fourth of 1 percent of his commission to each buyer’s closing costs (a value of $250 for every $100,000 of purchase price), by offering to pay an additional $500 towards the buyer’s closing costs between now and March 17. On a $400,000 home purchase, that’s a savings of $1,500, he said in a press release. In addition, he is offering a first-year home warranty free of charge to all his buying clients. Call 246-2626 for more information.
Worley joins Island Air sales staff
- Bernadette “Bernie” Worley has been hired as sales and marketing manager of Island Air, company officials announced in a press release. She is responsible for sales and marketing development in Hawai’i, and will work hand-in-hand with travel partners, wholesalers and vendors. She will also be responsible for developing relationships with new business partners, such as car-rental companies and hotels.
“Bernie’s wealth of experience in sales and marketing, coupled with her innovative thinking, will be a tremendous asset to Island Air as we continue to grow and improve our service and operations,” said Island Air Chief Operating Officer Les Murashige. “She is a perfect fit for the job and for the Island Air ‘ohana.”
Worley comes to Island Air with more than 10 years of experience in sales and marketing, and more than 15 years in the travel industry. She has previously worked as director of sales and marketing for the Makaha Resort Golf Club, as the catering sales manager for Ala Moana Hotel, and as the regional operations and marketing manager for Sato Travel Inc. During her tenure at Sato Travel, Worley is credited with having the highest percentage of non-air commission revenue, and the lowest operating costs, over six years.
Born and raised in Hawai’i, Worley is a graduate of Farrington High School and Kapi’olani Community College.
Visitors bureau Web site gets honor
- It’s called the “Adobe Site of the Day Award,” even though it’s not given out every day. Officials with the Hawai’i Visitors and Convention Bureau said their Culture & Arts Dream Vacation on-line planning tool was recently awarded the Adobe Site of the Day Award, which is prestigious in the high-tech world. They’re only awarded when they’re warranted. The most recent prior winners include national and international firms including Adidas, Nike, Nintendo, Warner Bros. (for Harry Potter).
The award information is posted at http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?event=sotdarchive&loc=en_us.
Adobe’s “Site of the Day” Award (formerly known as Macromedia’s Site of the Day Award before the merger of the two software companies) recognizes Web sites based on their strong visual designs, superior functionalities, and innovative uses of Adobe products. Adobe leaders launched the award program to bring attention to creative and engineering talent throughout the world. The award-winners are selected by a panel of industry professionals at Adobe and Macromedia who receive thousands of submissions throughout the year.
The Hawaii Culture & Arts Vacation Planner was featured on the Macromedia home page, www.macromedia.com, and on the “Showcase” section of the Macromedia Web site, which can be found at http://www.macromedia.com/showcase, last week.
Financial-aid workshop set
- Officials with the Hawaii Association for College Admission Counseling (HACAC) and First Hawaiian Bank in a press release announced that a free, college-planning workshop is planned for Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Puhi.
Leaders at the how-to workshop, for parents of children in grades eight and above, will discuss college admissions and financial-aid processes for college-bound students and their parents.
College admissions criteria, selecting high-school courses, college entrance-test tips, rating and choosing a college, financing college, and financial-aid programs. All attendees will receive free copies of the work-book, “College Planning — A Family Affair.”
“As professional counselors, the members of our organization also know how difficult, intimidating and confusing the process of admissions and financial aid can be,” said Margaret Bailey, HACAC president. “We want to help families make college choices wisely.”
