Former Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) Director of Tourism Paul Pennycooke is now the CEO and managing director of The Curaçao Tourism Development Foundation.

Pennycooke, who twice held the position of director of tourism, was a senior vice-president of the now defunct Air Jamaica and a senior executive for the Superclubs and Sandals groups.

“I’m respectful of the century-old history of The Curaçao Association for the Promotion of Foreign Visits and I’m cognisant of the strides that have been made in recent years to increase tourism arrivals to Curaçao by both the public and private sector. It will be my privilege to work with industry partners to continue to build on those achievements,” Pennycooke is quoted by travelweek.ca on his new assignment.

“My objective is to ensure that Curaçao is positioned strongly to capitalise on growth opportunities. The careful thought that went into creating Curaçao’s new global brand, Feel It For Yourself’, makes my job easier and I’m thrilled to be a part of the roll-out and for us to hit the ground running,” he added.

A holder of a degree in hotel management from Cornell University in the United States, Pennycooke oversaw the restructuring of the JTB, while he was director, which resulted in more global marketing. He has also been credited for implementing strategies that resulted in record increases in visitor arrivals to Jamaica during both stints as director of tourism.

Pennycooke is also bilingual — fluent in both English and Spanish.

WATKIS FOR BARBADOS JOB

Simona Watkis has been appointed CEO of NCB Capital Markets (Barbados) Ltd, according to an update from the National Commercial Bank Financial Group posted on the Jamaica Stock Exchange website recently.

In her previous capacity she served as regional manager for corporate, wealth management and syndication. Watkis was responsible then for managing client portfolios, while increasing NCB Capital Market’s customer base through acquisition and cross-selling of products and services; in particular, those relating to fixed income, investment, loans, debt capital markets, structured finance, treasury, and insurance.

As such Watkis supervised a team tasked with designing and implementing segmented sales plans with a strategic focus on effectively penetrating the market to increase market share and realise revenue growth targets and maximise operating capabilities.

Watkis joined NCB Capital Markets in 2016 after her stint at JMMB as corporate relations manager.

She is a holder of a Master of Business Administration, according to her

LinkedIn profile.

WHITTAKER TAKES ON SUPREME VENTURES ROLE

Aden Whittaker assumed the role of vice-president, operations and IT services at Supreme Ventures Ltd (SVL) earlier this month, according to an advisory posted by SVL on the Jamaica Stock Exchange website.

He will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the technology function for the group.

Prior to this appointment Whittaker was IT operations manager at GraceKennedy (GK) Ltd, having oversight for cross-subsidiary IT operational activities relating to the GK Group and GK Foods Division, inclusive of IT infrastructure and vendor relationship management.

Based on his LinkedIn profile, Whittaker received several promotions while at GK, which he joined in 2005. He was first promoted to network engineer, then information technology (IT) officer, senior IT service officer, business integration manager, acting business systems manager, and IT operations manager.

The new SVL vice-president holds a Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Technology from the University of Technology, Jamaica; a Master of Business Administration from University of Wales, Cardiff; and is an accredited Project Management Professional.

Whittaker is a member of the Moneague College Information Technology Advisory Board. He was also an instructor at HEART Trust/National Training Agency.

WALKER PROMOTED AT PROVEN WEALTH

Proven Wealth Ltd recently announced via LinkedIn the appointment of Miguel Walker to the role of assistant vice-president, wealth management.

Walker holds an MBA in Banking and Finance and has over 14 years in the finance sector, having previously been employed with Scotia Investments as senior manager for sales and service, as well as First Global Financial Services as senior business development manager.

WRIGHT ON AT ISP

Pierre-Anthony Wright is now ISP Financial Services Ltd’s director of sales, marketing and business development.

With some eight years in sales volume growth, people management and general management, Wright has been tasked with planning and managing sales, marketing and business development programmes with the aim of achieving ISP’s growth target.

A holder of a Master in Business Administration from the Mona School of Business and Management with a focus in marketing, Wright also has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from The University of the West Indies, Mona.

His experience covers working in industries such as consumer goods and retail, financial services, telecommunications, education, and manufacturing.

NEW ROLE FOR PETERKIN AT ZIM

Jamaican Kimani Peterkin recently assumed responsibilities for the commercial manager of the Latin American unit at Zim American Integrated Shipping Services Co LLC.

He had previously worked from the desks of commercial line manager, director of Latin American trade and intra-area trade manager for the company.

With experience in shipping spanning more than 15 years, Peterkin has also been employed with ZIM Integrated Shipping Service Ltd and Carib Star Shipping — an agent of Zim American — within the capacity of marketing and transshipment manager. He was a Customs officer with the Jamaica Customs Department from 2000 to 2002.

A graduate of UWI Mona, Peterkin holds a Bachelor of Science in Economic and Social Statistics and Master of Business Administration from the Mona School of Business and Management, also at UWI.