Shanna Bright joins Apple Tree Group as Director of Sales and Marketing

The Apple Tree Group has hired Shanna Bright to spearhead the sales and marketing initiatives for its hospitality properties, including the new Villa Maly in Luang Prabang, Emeraude Classic Cruises on Halong Bay, La Residence Hotel & Spa in Hue and the Press Club in Hanoi.

Bright’s career in marketing spans 15 years including a stint at the City Club on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles, California where she received numerous accolades for her business planning and innovative programming. From 2002 to 2007 Bright lived and worked in Japan.

“Shanna’s temperament is very gung ho,” said Kurt Walter, general manager of Emeraude Classic Cruises and the Press Club in Hanoi. “She’s very hands-on, very personable and has a keen appreciation of East Asia given her five years in Japan. Vietnam and Laos require a good deal of gumption, and Shanna’s got it.”

In addition to her professional experience in East Asia, Bright has traveled extensively in the region, spending most of 2008 on a solo journey through Southeast Asia that included an extended stop in Vietnam.

“Indochina, more than any other stop in my recent travels, is the one that endures as the most magical,” said Bright. “Communicating the wonder of this destination, and these fantastic properties – each with their own story, and their own style – is both a challenge and an inspiration.”

In addition to her work in the hospitality field, Bright has worked in alumni relations at both the American Film Institute and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In ATG’s widening realm, Bright will focus her efforts on a suite of successful hospitality properties, including:

- Villa Maly, a 33-room boutique hotel in Luang Prabang that was built as a private residence in 1938 and relaunched as a hotel in September 2008. The residence is located in a neighborhood of garden homes that was once a royal enclave and today ranks as one of Luang Prabang’s most exclusive development zones.

- Emeraude Classic Cruises, a near-replica of a paddle-wheel steamer that cruised Ha Long Bay from 1906 to 1937. The present vessel features 36 cabins, two suites and is celebrated worldwide as the most posh cruise among the limestone karst islands of this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

- La Residence Hotel & Spa, a 122-room, monumental hotel that was built in 1930 as part of the colonial governor’s residence. The hotel was recently trumpeted as one of the best new hotels in the world on Conde Nast Traveler’s 2007 Hot List.

- Kamu Lodge, an eco-lodge comprised of 20 thatched canvas tents, located on the banks of the Mekong River, three hours by boat from Luang Prabang.

- The Press Club, one of Hanoi’s finest restaurants, serving Western fare in a setting that evokes a classic, colonial-era sanctuary.

The Apple Tree Group is a French-owned, Ho Chi Minh City-based company with interests in tourism and hospitality, real estate and construction and import and distribution all over Southeast Asia.

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