Appoinments

 Rainer
Gottschick has
been appointed ce
of Avis Rent a Car
Southern Africa,
effective March
1. He started
with Avis as financial manager
for the regional countries
and held various positions
during his 16 years with the
company. He joined the Avis
executive team in 2007 as
executive for commercial
and regional countries and in
2013 was promoted to chief
financial officer at Avis Rent
a Car Southern Africa. Rainer
takes over from Keith Rankin,
outgoing ce. Keith has been
appointed ce of Barloworld
Automotive.
 Abia Rakoma has been
appointed gm of Town Lodge
Menlo Park with effect from
March 1. This is a promotion
from his position as gm of
Road Lodge Carnival City.
He joined the City Lodge
Hotel Group in 2007 as a
junior assistant gm at City
Lodge Johannesburg Airport,
having come from the Court
Classique Suite Hotel in
Pretoria where he was the
front office manager.
 Etihad Airways
has appointed
new gm in South
Africa, John Friel.
Based at the
airline’s offices
in Johannesburg,
John is responsible for
leading Etihad’s commercial
operations in South Africa.
He joined the airline in June
2014 as regional business
development manager in
South Africa, before which
he worked for 16 years in
various airlines. “South Africa
is a very important market
for us and John has a wealth
of commercial management
experience and the right
credentials to accelerate the
growth of our business there,”
said Maurice Phohleli, Etihad
Airways vp Africa Sub-Sahara
and Indian Ocean.
 Sandra Kneubuhler has
been appointed global
sales director – Africa at
Hyatt Regency. She will be
responsible for assisting
African companies with
their international travel
programmes as well as
assisting other multinationals
in the region with travel.
Sandra began her career
at the Hyatt Regency
Johannesburg as a corporate
trainee 10 years ago and
since then has held various
sales positions in Grand Hyatt
Doha and Hyatt Regency
Oubaai Resort and Spa, most
recently as director of sales
& marketing and acting gm at
the Hyatt Regency Oubaai.