Wyndham Hotel Group, the world’s largest hotel company with approximately 7,000 hotels and 11 brands, has appointed Flo Lugli as executive vice president of marketing, responsible for the strategy and execution of the Hotel Group’s global marketing efforts.
Parisppany, N.J. – Lugli, who joins the company on July 20th, will oversee the Hotel Group’s distribution and e-commerce, loyalty and direct marketing, research and analytics departments, and will work closely with the Hotel Group’s brand marketing teams to lead the overall strategic direction for customer engagement and market positioning for the company.
She comes to the Hotel Group from Travelport Limited, one of the world’s largest global distribution system providers and a leader in Web-based e-commerce solutions. Lugli, a 20-plus year veteran of Travelport and its predecessors, is known for building high performance teams and developing new products that deliver operational excellence and value.
Most recently senior vice president of commercial in the Global Distribution Services Division at Travelport, Lugli was responsible for leading the company’s global distribution systems business in the Americas as well as overseeing the company’s Global Operations and Global Land and Sea businesses, including the development and execution of its global hotel, car rental, and leisure strategies.
Earlier, Lugli led Travelport’s Airline Solutions business unit, serving as senior vice president as well as president and managing director of Airline Solutions. In those roles, she was responsible for the development and delivery of business and technology solutions for the company’s airline suppliers, with a specific focus on reservations hosting, faring and data management solutions.
„Flo is an expert in global electronic e-commerce and building cross functional teams,“ said Eric Danziger, Wyndham Hotel Group president and chief executive officer. „As the world’s largest hotel company, Wyndham Hotel Group not only must have the best and the brightest marketers, but also leaders like Flo who can seamlessly collaborate across global departments, leveraging all of our electronic distribution and marketing opportunities.“
Lugli was president of Wizcom International, a business unit of Cendant and senior vice president of Galileo International, which was acquired by Cendant Corporation in 2001. She joined Cendant in 1987 as a part of its Hospitality Division, serving in several sales and marketing roles, including vice president of worldwide sales and vice president of worldwide sales and marketing.
Lugli commented, „I am happy to be joining Wyndham Hotel Group at a time when the industry is poised to drive opportunities which leverage new technologies and customer engagement options such as social media. I’m also excited to be working with Eric and to be part of his management team.“
Lugli has been voted one of the Most Powerful Women in Travel seven times by Travel Agent Magazine and has been named a top 10 technology expert and a top 75 hotel executive by Lodging Magazine. She has served two terms as president of the Hotel Electronic Distribution Network Association (HEDNA), an international organization promoting electronic distribution of the hotel product, and is currently a member of the US Travel Association’s Travelcom advisory board.
Wyndham Hotel Group, one of three principal components of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, encompasses approximately 7,000 hotels and 588,500 rooms in 66 countries under the hotel brands: Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®, Ramada®, Days Inn®, Super 8®, Wingate by Wyndham®, Baymont Inn & Suites®, Microtel Inn & Suites®, Hawthorn Suites®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® and Knights Inn®.
All hotels are independently owned and operated excluding certain Wyndham and international Ramada hotels which are managed by our affiliate or through a joint venture partner. Wyndham Hotel Group is based in Parsippany, N.J. Additional information is available at wyndhamworldwide.com.
Photo: Flo Lugli /Wyndham Hotel Group
