Willie Williams

Willie is a passionate leader with over 20 years of extensive experience in sales, commercial, marketing, and communications in various senior Sales & Marketing roles within award-winning hotels. Willie has previously been with Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide (now Marriott) at the Sheraton Pretoria Hotel & Towers, hosting world leaders and royalty over many years […]
Patricia Lacaton

French-born Patricia started her career in the hotel industry in Bavaria, Germany straight after passing her Baccalauréat. After moving to Cape Town, Patricia started as a waitress at Blues Restaurant and received training in a different perspective to hospitality. She was then given the opportunity by Nicky and Steve Fitzgerald to join the opening team […]
Ruan Fick

Ruan started his career in the hospitality industry after working for two years for a chartered accounting company, then moving from Pretoria to study Hospitality Management at the International Hotels School, Cape Town. After studies, he was recruited to the opening team of the luxury Taj Cape Town Hotel in 2010, and for two years […]
Barry Ross

Barry has known that the hospitality industry was where he should be since attending a career guidance event given by an “Old Boy” of the school he attended in King Williams Town, in the Eastern Cape. Barry has worked in Human Resources at both Group (Sodexo Southern Africa and Legacy Hotels & Resorts) and at […]
Trish Humby

Trish started her career in the financial field, which changed when she joined the Southern Sun Group of Hotels. In 1995, she joined the Cape Sun InterContinental team where she worked with Michael Pownall. During her time, she played an instrumental part in rebranding the hotel. During this rebrand, she found herself heading up the […]
Christina Christodoulou

Christina grew up in Port Elizabeth where her hospitality roots were established as she helped in the family business. After graduating from UCT in ballet, where she pursued her passion for dance and a short stint working for a tour operator, she joined Cape Grace as a guest liaison. During her time there, she oversaw […]
Joep Schoof

Joep was born in the Netherlands, starting in the hotel trade at a young age, prior to completing his degree at the International Hotelschool in Leeuwarden. As part of this education, he completed his management traineeship at the then Dutch owned the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West, South Africa, which is where he discovered […]
Michela Trolese

Michela’s career began at Sun International’s legendary Sun City Resort in South Africa’s North West Province where her passion for hospitality was truly ignited. Between 2011 and 2014, Michela held the position of Revenue Manager at One & Only Cape Town where she was responsible for maximising revenues through analytical evaluation of market conditions, driving […]
Paul Nisbett

Paul Nisbett is a high-performing senior hotel executive with over 20 years in the industry and a proven track record in the management and construction of financial services. Paul recently held the role of CFO of the Hotel Collection from April 2012 till February 2015, and was appointed as acting CEO to manage the group’s […]