Forbes Travel Guide, the global authority on luxury travel, announced today a plan to significantly scale the company from evaluating and verifying luxury hospitality in 60 countries to 100 countries by the end of 2019. As part of this growth strategy, the company has made several key appointments and executive promotions.

Gerard “Jerry” Inzerillo, who has served as CEO of Forbes Travel Guide since 2014, will be appointed vice-chairman of the Forbes Travel Guide Board of Directors.

Veteran luxury hospitality leader of 30 years, Filip Boyen, will be appointed CEO of Forbes Travel Guide. Boyen was most recently the CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, which he joined in 2015 following decades of stewardship with Orient Express Hotels and Resorts, where his last role was chief operations officer at Belmond.

“Jerry’s leadership and vision was a driving force in the company’s successful growth during these last four years,” said Jeff Arnold, chairman of the Forbes Travel Guide Board of Directors. “We are delighted he will remain on the BOD and help guide our governance and strategic direction in this exciting new era of expansion. We wish him the very best in his new appointment from HRH, The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman, as CEO of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority."

Arnold continued: “We are very excited to welcome Filip to the company as CEO with his valuable operational and revenue-growth expertise focusing on the development of new and expanded opportunities for our business. His extensive experience in luxury hospitality, commitment to guest service and proven track record as a global operator of luxury brands will help us to continue our growth while remaining true to our commitment of unbiased excellence at this dynamic time of globalisation in the luxury market.”

“It is a great honour for me to join the originators of the Five-Star hospitality rating system and to have the chance to work with such an exceptional group of professionals as we expand our services to the industry and our guests globally,” said Boyen.

The company also announced that Tony Hounshell will join the company as executive vice president of finance and will be responsible for the global operations of the company’s finance and accounting divisions. Hounshell brings almost 20 years of senior financial services experience with leading firms including most recently, Ernst & Young.

Additionally, veteran Forbes Travel Guide executives Peter Kressaty, Tom Flournoy, Amanda Frasier, Mica Hill and Marilyn Karstaedt have been promoted to executive vice presidents. - TradeArabia News Service