Marriott International has appointed Tim Sheldon as president of its Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) region, replacing Craig S. Smith.
Smith will return to Hong Kong as president and managing director of Marriott’s Asia-Pacific region, where he previously served as executive vice president and COO.
“We look forward to even more exciting growth in the Caribbean and Latin America,” says Arne Sorenson, Marriott International’s president and CEO. “Tim’s brand expertise and proven track record of success in building strong operating organizations will help leverage our rapid expansion in the region into increasingly strong performance.”
Sheldon currently serves as the company’s global COO and will assume his new position next month. He will be responsible for capitalizing on Marriott’s CALA regional expansion while improving overall operations in partnership with the company’s owners and franchisees.
“I am excited to join the CALA team and look forward to growing the company’s strong portfolio of brands throughout the region,” says Sheldon. “We see tremendous development opportunity in established and emerging markets and are aggressively promoting travel both to and within the Caribbean and Latin America.”
Sheldon will oversee the region’s 94 hotels across nine lodging brands. Internationally, the company is also planning an expansion of 100 hotels this year with another 50 to span nine new countries by 2017.
As global COO, Sheldon headed innovations, such as the global guest satisfaction listening tool GuestVoice, and was the first in the industry to launch mobile check-in and checkout.
Having previously served as executive vice president for global brand management and lodging operations, he was responsible for overseeing nearly 500 hotels in addition to his role as senior vice president and brand manager for Marriott’s select-service and extended stay portfolio.
