The Peninsula Hotels names new Group Marketing Structure

The Peninsula Hotels has announced the appointments of Ms Dianna Balabon as Regional Director of Sales (America/Europe), Mr Arthur Kiong as Regional Director of Sales, (Asia Pacific), and Ms Sian Griffiths to Regional Director of Public Relations (Asia Pacific).

Ms Dianna Balabon has been appointed Regional Director of Sales (America/Europe) for The Peninsula Hotels. In her new position, Ms Balabon will also oversee the group’s Regional Sales Offices in New York, London and Frankfurt and still maintain her position as Director of Marketing for The Peninsula New York.

Ms Balabon joined The Peninsula Hotels in 1998 as Director of Marketing for The Peninsula New York. Prior to this, she was the Director of Sales for North America with The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd, where she managed and directed the company’s regional offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Her previous experience includes Associate Director of Sales for The Sterling Hotel Group, and Sales Manager of Le Meridien Hotel Boston. A native of Iowa, Ms Balabon earned a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa, and currently resides in New York City.

Mr Arthur Kiong has been appointed Regional Director of Sales (Asia Pacific). In this new capacity, Mr Kiong will take on increased responsibilities overseeing the activities of the Hong Kong/Asia and Japan/Korea Regional Sales Offices in addition to his existing position as Director of Marketing for The Peninsula Hong Kong.

A Singaporean national, Mr Kiong has a wealth of marketing experience both in Asia and the United States. Before joining The Peninsula Hong Kong in 2002, he was Area Director, Marketing responsible for six Ritz-Carlton hotels in New York, Washington DC and Boston. Prior to that, Mr Kiong was the Director of Sales & Marketing at The Ritz-Carlton, Millennia Singapore.

Ms Sian Griffiths has been appointed as Regional Director of Public Relations (Asia Pacific), Ms Griffiths has taken over the group Communications function while continuing to work with The Peninsula Hotels’ Asian properties in developing and aligning strategies for the region.

Born and raised in England, and after studying modern languages at Oxford Brookes University in the UK and gaining Membership of the Institute of Linguists, she started her career in the tourism and travel industry with French State Railways and Cunard Line before relocating to Hong Kong and joining The Peninsula, where she has held a number of appointments in the sales, marketing and public relations areas.