JIMBARAN, BALI – January 11, 2013 – AYANA Resort and Spa Bali has announced the appointment of Vineet Mahajan as Director of Sales & Marketing, to strengthen the brand and develop new markets as the resort enhances its meeting and conference facilities. Vineet will also be part of the pre-opening team for a separately-branded resort scheduled to open in late 2013 adjacent to AYANA, within the 77-hectare Karang Mas Estate.

Having more than 16 years’ experience in the Hospitality, Telecom and Investment Banking industries, Vineet was most recently Complex Director of Sales & Marketing for Westin Gurgaon and Westin Sohna Resorts and Spa. Prior to that, he launched The Leela Palace New Delhi and The Leela Kempinski Gurgaon from pre-opening to the first year of operations as Director of Sales and Marketing.

“I am delighted to have Vineet on board to take AYANA to the next level,” said AYANA’s General Manager Edward Linsley. “In 2012, AYANA once again achieved record figures in terms of value for our owner, guest satisfaction, and employee satisfaction, but we cannot be complacent. A key element of this resort’s success is that it has been designed in such a way so as to cater to a wide spectrum of guests from across the globe. Honeymooners and wedding couples enjoy the privacy of the Villas, while families enjoy the recreational facilities and corporate guests the variety of restaurants and event venues. Vineet’s strategic planning, dynamic leadership and cultural awareness will play a key role in developing these market segments further and leading this resort to even greater success.”

Vineet said he is excited by the opportunity to join AYANA, which was voted Asia’s Best Resort and the World’s Best Spa Resort in the Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Survey. “AYANA boasts more unique selling points than any other resort I know, and what I can only say are the best staff in the world,” he said. “Our 950+ team members include native Japanese, Korean, Russian-speaking and Chinese guest relations officers to allow us to cater for the different preferences of various nationalities, in accordance to the Canon service standards that underpin our corporate culture and philosophy. It is an honor to join this team as AYANA continues to evolve with new facilities and investment from the owner.”

Vineet said his immediate priorities are the relaunch of AYANA’s technologically-advanced meeting facilities with an extended Ballroom to cater for multinational meetings, conferences and events in a secure, high-tech environment. The extension increases the size of AYANA’s Ballroom by around 50%, while the upgrade also features a new outdoor event space with four break-out rooms including a VIP reception room and a Plenary meeting room seating 150 people.

Vineet will also prepare for the opening of a resort adjacent to AYANA in late 2013. Branded ‘Rimba’, which is Indonesian for ‘forest’, the 288-room resort is being built in response to strong demand from corporate and wedding groups which AYANA has not had the availability to accommodate. Rimba will provide additional accommodation for such groups, who will enjoy convenient access to AYANA as the main venue for destination Bali weddings, meetings and conferences in Bali.

Vineet’s earlier career experience included various projects with Intercontinental Hotels, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts and the Strategic Capital Corporation. An MBA graduate from the Aberdeen Business School, he was amongst the select few awarded an associate member of ‘Scottish Network International’ and later hand-picked to work as a marketing manager and financial analyst for The Essentia Group.

About AYANA Resort and Spa
Named after a ‘place of refuge’ in Sanskrit, AYANA is perched on limestone cliffs up to 30 meters above the Indian Ocean near Jimbaran Bay on Bali’s south-western peninsula. The 77-hectare property enjoys majestic views and a secluded location across its 1.3 kilometer coastline, yet is just 15 minutes from Bali’s airport. The 368 guestrooms comprise 78 private pool villas and a 290-room hotel.

Resort highlights include the 22,000sqm Thermes Marins Thalasso spa with one of the world’s largest Aquatonic Seawater Therapy Pools and the Spa on the Rocks villas set amidst the Indian Ocean. There are five purpose-built wedding venues; the avant-garde Champa Garden for grand-scale events; four freshwater swimming pools including a children’s pool; a salt-water, infinity-edged Ocean Beach Pool at the cliff’s base, accessed via an inclinator; 12 dining venues; 18-hole golf putting course; tennis pavilion; jogging/cycling path; fitness center; children’s center; perfume-making studio and boutiques; comprehensive meeting facilities and business center; and resort-wide WIFI.

About Capella Hotel Group
Capella Hotel Group based in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. was founded in 2002 by legendary hotelier Horst Schulze. The principals of the company leverage unparalleled hospitality experience and a diverse track record of operating world-class hotels and resorts to create value through superior service at luxury, world-class properties and conference centers in gateway cities and high-profile resort destinations around the world. Capella Hotel Group has successfully launched two hotel brands, Capella and Solis, and manages leading independent brands including AYANA. They have helped reshape concepts of luxury service throughout the hospitality and service industries and created the unparalleled Canon service standards introduced at AYANA, underpinning the resort’s commitment to excellence and guest satisfaction. For more information, visit www.capellahotelgroup.com.