Vietnam welcomes Mr. Christian Byczek as the new German Department Manager who takes over from Dominik Schaufler who will be heading to Exotissimo Bangkok to take on a new role. Christian has spent 3 years in Vietnam working in the tourism industry as well as traveling extensively and mastering the Vietnamese language. A keen amateur photographer, surfer and with a background in Southeast Asian Studies, Christian knows the in and outs of the country extremely well.

Exotissimo Thailand will welcome Michael Lynden-Bell as General Manager from 10 May 2010.

Michael is an experienced and valuable member of the Exotissimo family as he has been General Manager at Exotissimo Australia for the past two years and will replace Edwin Briels who is moving on after three years with Exotissimo Thailand. Prior to joining Exotissimo in 2008 Michael was with Lonely Planet in Australia where he held a variety of senior management positions.

“I am very excited about this opportunity to work in Thailand. After two years with Exotissimo in Australia I feel I have a clear understanding of the company’s strategy and focus and I am looking forward to further developing our Thailand operation.”

Michael will spend the month of May working alongside Edwin to take over responsibilities and understand working procedures in depth before Edwin departs.

“We are very pleased to have Michael on board,” said Hamish Keith, managing director of Exotissimo Thailand. “Edwin has done a great job over the last three years and we wish him the best of luck with his new ventures. Despite a turbulent market recently, the company is on a solid footing and I have every confidence that Michael can carry on the good work as well as bring in some fresh new ideas to keep us moving forwards.”

“Michael has done a great job developing the Australian market and we are very pleased to have him in the strategically important position in Thailand”, added Olivier Colomes, Exotissimo Group CEO. ” He is very customer focused and I am sure Michael will ensure our clients continue to receive the high standard of service and attention they have come to expect from Exotissimo Thailand.”

We are pleased to welcome David King as the new Operations & Adventure Manager of Exotissimo Cambodia. David was originally from Ireland and possesses extensive knowledge of adventure travel in Southeast Asia through his previous living and working experience in Vietnam. Based in Siem Reap, he can be contacted at david_king@exotissimo.com.

We have recently appointed Le Hong Lan as the Project Manager to develop our responsible travel initiatives by working with various charities and sustainable tourism projects in Vietnam. Lan joined Exotissimo Vietnam in May 2005 as the MICE Operation Coordinator and was in charge of operations for incentive groups as well as developing MICE products. During this time he was able to see the impact of tourism in Vietnam and his involvement in charity events led to his strong interest in social responsibility. He can be contacted at honglan@exotissimo.com.

We are pleased to welcome Miles Gravett as our new North American Sales Manager and he will be responsible for the US and Canadian markets. Based in our Bangkok head office, Miles will make frequent visits to North America and have communication channels to the US and Canada open at all times. A US native from San Francisco, Miles was formerly our Siem Reap Operations Manager and possesses excellent destination knowledge of Southeast Asia with his seven years’ professional experience in the Asian travel industry. He can be contacted at miles@exotissimo.com.

At the same time, our US office will remain open with Beth Ringhofer based in San Francisco to handle enquiries and to liaise with our American agents in real-time. She will work closely with Miles and together they will form a very experienced and capable team. Beth can be contacted at beth@exotissimo.com.