Pro-invest Group has announced a suite of appointments for roles in sales, revenue and commercial performance, kick-starting the new year with a dynamic team of leaders to support their growing portfolio of hotels in Australia and New Zealand.Neerav Gorasia has been promoted to Director Hotel Performance for Pro-invest Hotels. Formerly Operations Excellence Manager since January 2023, Neerav is a Law and Commerce graduate and a fully qualified Chartered Accountant (CAANZ). He brings expertise from numerous senior finance and accounting positions within Mantra Group, Accor Hotels & Shangri-La as well as leading the finance function at Sonic Healthcare.
In this pivotal role, Neerav will work in close collaboration with Operations & Functional Leaders across the Pro-invest Group portfolio to develop and implement strategies and initiatives to drive Hotel performance.
Further appointments come as Pro-invest Group builds its Revenue Centre scale and capabilities. A centralised team supporting all 32 Pro-invest Group and Vista Hospitality Group hotels and restaurants, the Revenue Centre focuses on driving performance through sales, marketing, and revenue management. Focused on solutions designed to scale as the company grows, the team is focused on delivering ever-increasing efficiencies that maximise impact, while keeping costs low.
The group has a growing Luxury & Lifestyle portfolio, including the voco and Kimpton brands as well as two new Hotel Indigo properties in Melbourne and Sydney. Alongside this growth, they have a continued focus on the mid-scale hotel category with Holiday Inn Express. With this in mind, new roles have been created to align the sales team to cater to the unique needs of different hotels in each region, enable more localised strategies and a deeper understanding of the markets served.
Mitchell Hacene
– Mitchell Hacene has been promoted to the role of Senior Director of Sales – Luxury & Lifestyle Hotels Portfolio. As an integral part of the pre-opening team at Kimpton Margot Sydney, he excelled at a centralised sales director role. Mitchell’s new position sees him drive Pro-invest Group’s Luxury & Lifestyle sales team across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and New Zealand to increase sales opportunities.
– Toby Yates, who first joined the company as Director of Sales for Hotel Indigo Melbourne Flinders, takes on the new role of Director of Sales – Luxury & Lifestyle Hotels Portfolio. Drawing on his 25-years sales and marketing experience in the luxury and lifestyle sector, Toby’s focus will be on growing market share and delivering on sales targets from his Melbourne base. Mitchell and Toby join Maddison Jones, Business Development Manager, Portfolio, and Emma Nand, Director of Sales, New Zealand, as a team of four focused on the Luxury & Lifestyle segment.
– Tom Woods has been named Director of Commercial Performance. Tom joined Pro-invest two years ago to assist with the opening of voco & Holiday Inn Express Auckland City Centre. After setting the hotels up for success, Tom took on a Sales Effectiveness role and has been instrumental in supporting the success of the team. This new role will see Tom lead performance
Jasmin MacMillan
driving enhancements across Commercial functions, working closely with Neerav.
– Jasmin MacMillan has been promoted to the role of Director of Sales, Groups & Meetings. Jasmin joined the company in May 2021, and with her expanded mandate she will lead the newly established Groups and Meetings hub, overseeing the Sales and Reservations teams both onshore and offshore. Her previous on-property experience, combined with leadership skills and deep-industry knowledge has proven a powerful combination in driving growth in the segment for the company.
– Raj Kamat and Joanna Millwater have joined the company as Portfolio Revenue Managers. Raj’s 15-year hotel career spans operations, reservations, and commercial optimisation across the Asia Pacific region. His Revenue Management expertise has been honed during his time at EVT and Langham Hospitality. Joanna, a Canadian national, boasts a 20-year career in the hotel industry across reservations, revenue, yield, and distribution management. She has spent time at both boutique hotels and large chains, with her most recent roles being at Salter Brothers and View Hotels.
Pro-invest Group’s Chief Operating Officer for Hotels, Shantha de Silva said of the moves: “These new appointments in our Revenue Centre team ensure we’re in commanding shape for 2024 to optimise the performance of our hotels across our expanding portfolio. We welcome Raj and Joanna to the team and congratulate Neerav, Mitchell, Toby, Jasmin and Tom on their new roles – it’s rewarding to recognise these industry specialists that are a great asset to the company and focused on delivering for both our guests and investors.”
