Skift Take
Just a hunch, but does this mean more acquisitions are in the works over at Hyatt?
Hilton isn't the only major hotel company beginning this year with a major marketing leadership change this year.
On Thursday, Hyatt announced it was eliminating the positions of global chief marketing officer and global head of capital strategy, franchising, and select service on its executive committee. In their place, the company is creating a new chief commercial officer position, and consolidating its managed and franchised hotel operations and owner relations into a single portfolio to be led by its current global president of operations, Chuck Floyd.
That means that global chief marketing officer Maryam Banikarim and global head of capital strategy, franchising and select service Steve Haggerty will leave Hyatt in the coming months. Banikarim's last day with Hyatt will be on April 30 and Haggerty will remain at Hyatt as a special advisor to the CEO through July, focusing on important deals.
"In order to achieve our growth potential and capitalize on opportunities that come from rapidly-emerging consumer, industry and competitive developments, we must be leaner and more agile," Hyatt CEO Mark Hoplamazian said in a statement. "This starts at the top with our leadership, and we are making changes to streamline the Executive Committee and to better enable us to maximize our core hotel business and continue our expansion into new lines of business."
The new chief commercial officer role will include oversight of global sales, marketing, contact centers, and information technology, and will report directly to Hoplamazian. Hyatt says it hopes to appoint a new chief commercial officer in the second quarter.
Additionally, the company is reorg
