Kale Consultants has appointed Vineet Malhotra as vice-president (marketing). In his capacity, Malhotra will spearhead the company's international marketing operations and brand building across Kale's target markets and will report directly to Vipul Jain, CEO and managing director of Kale Consultants.

Armed with an MBA degree, with a specialisation in marketing and strategy, Malhotra brings to Kale a vast pool of expertise in the core marketing functions of strategic planning, brand management, channel
management and marketing communication

Bret Pidgeon has been appointed general manager of Madame Tussauds, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Pidgeon has been with the company for eight years, his last post being that of acting general manager for Madame Tussauds in New York.

Bret has played an integral role in the opening teams for Madame Tussauds in New York in 2000, Shanghai in 2006 and Washington DC in 2007. He was also Project Champion for the redesign of the retail store and café at Madame Tussauds New York; and was nominated for Manager of the Year - Tussauds Group in 2006.

Prior to working for Merlin Entertainments Group, Bret had a seven year career as senior manager at Planet Hollywood in the flagship New York City location

Hervé Novelli has been appointed as the Secretary of State for Trade, Crafts, SMEs/SMIs, Tourism and Services, following a recent reshuffling of cabinet by French president, Nicholas Sarkozy. Accordingly, Novelli will serve under Christine Lagarde, minister of economy, finance and employment. Prior to this appointment, he was Secretary of State for Businesses and Foreign Trade.

He has been a member of the European Parliament since 1999 and was re-elected in June 2007 when the President offered him a ministerial position

Radha Bhatia, chairperson of the Bird Group, has been elected as the new chairperson of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Bhatia takes over from Nakul Anand, chief executive, ITC Hotels.

Bhatia's entrepreneurial skills have conceived several new and successful organisations within the BPO, technology and travel segments. Apart from being actively involved in several professional associations, Bhatia also has the
distinction of being the recipient of several awards including Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur of the Year for nine years till 2007

IHG Asia Pacific has announced two key appointments for their South West Asia region. Lau Loo Lan has been appointed as regional director of design and Ranjan Malakar has been appointed as regional revenue manager.

Loo Lan has been working with IHG for almost 10 years in various roles throughout Asia. Her most recent appointment involved overseeing the establishment of new offices, enlargement and development of the IHG's Greater China design and engineering team. In his new role, Malakar will be a key figure in the growth and expansion of IHG's key brands in South West Asia

Travelport GDS has appointed Hans Ebeling as regional director - Global Accounts & Strategic Corporate Development for the Asia region, based in Hong Kong. In his capacity, he will be responsible for multinational and corporate agency accounts, managing and growing the existing business, strengthening agency partner relationships and developing new opportunities across Asia.

Ebeling has held a number of senior positions within the company prior to this new appointment. In his last role, he was country manager for Galileo by Travelport, Hong Kong