Oakwood Asia Pacific, which manages luxury serviced apartments across the globe, has scored a major coup by appointing Craig Bond as Vice President of Operations.
In the role, Bond will have responsibility for a portfolio of 11 Oakwood-branded serviced apartments currently operating in the region, as well as several in various stages of development.
Bond will report to Dean Schreiber, Oakwood Asia Pacific’s Managing Director and will be based out of the head office in Singapore.
Schreiber said the important role forges productive relationships and dialogue with owners and at the same time provides leadership to on-property teams in established as well as opening properties to achieve commercial and organizational goals.
He said Bond will play a pivotal role in driving operational excellence, improving service quality and establishing strategic direction to achieve commercial and organizational objectives.
In his more than 25 years of tourism and hospitality management experience, of which the last decade was spent in group operations and regional management roles, Bond has accumulated a track record of substantial contribution in driving and implementing business development strategies to maximize market share and revenue, exceeding customer service benchmarks, building operational expertise and structures, processes and systems to optimize performance and efficiencies.
His successes saw him win the title of Australian General Manager of the Year at the 2010 HM Awards for Hotel and Accommodation Excellence.
In 2013 Bond received a Highly Commended in the category of Australasian Hotelier of the Year at the HM Awards for his role as area general manager, Oceania at Pan Pacific Hotels Group.
“Craig’s extensive experience in all aspects of operations, and in business development, new openings, rebranding and renovations will be invaluable as Oakwood continues on its aggressive expansion plans,” said Schreiber.
“We look forward to his strengthening operational effectiveness and in-region expertise as part of our sustainable growth journey. His deep experience in Australia will be particulary relevant as this is one of the key markets in our strategic development plan.”
Bond’s most recent appointment was Area General Manager – Oceania for Pan Pacific Hotels Group where he was responsible for the financial performance and operations structure of the Group’s hotels in Oceania, as well as developing efficiencies and synergies as the Group continued to grow its presence within Oceania.
Prior to that, he spent more than five years with Mirvac Hotels and Resorts where he was the Regional General Manager for 11 properties.
His other roles included General Manager of The Sebel and Citigate Albert Park Melbourne where he successfully managed a multi-million dollar refurbishment and repositioned the property as one of Australia’s top conference and event venues during the 2008 global financial crisis.
Bond’s role is one of two regional operations roles, with Martin Fluck leading operations for North Asia, based out of Tokyo.