APPOINTMENTS
Karen Hardie/Virtuoso
Virtuoso has announced Karen Hardie as general manager, Canada. An industry veteran, Hardie comes to Virtuoso as a strategic and collaborative executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience in the global luxury travel industry.
She enters the role as former GM of Canada, Una O’Leary, steps into her new role as vice president, Global Partnerships.
Recognized among Canada’s Most Powerful Women (WXN 2016), Hardie brings a proven track record of success in growing B2B sales, deepening partner engagement and leading high-performing, multi-market teams across Canada, the U.S., Australasia and Europe. Most recently, Hardie served as vice president, global sales for Rocky Mountaineer, and prior to that as director, global sales operations and director of sales for the U.S. and Mexico for the same organization. Her experience also includes executive roles with Jetset Travelworld Group and Orion Expedition Cruises, North America and Australia.
Hardie will lead the regional business strategy across Canada including member and partner growth and engagement. She will be based in Vancouver, Canada and joins on June 16, 2025, reporting to Londregan.
Lora Hamre & Cynthia Taylor/Envoyage
Envoyage has welcomed Lora Hamre as business development manager and Cynthia Taylor as a member support agent.
Hamre brings more than 24 years of travel industry experience across the retail and wholesale sectors. She has a strong track record in strategic sales, partnership development, and program innovation. Her leadership roles at VoX International, The Travel Corporation, and other respected organizations have helped shape high-impact travel experiences and results-driven marketing programs that resonate with consumers and trade partners.
Meanwhile, Taylor brings more than 14 years of experience in the travel industry and joins the Member Support Team, where she assists Envoyage advisors with the day-to-day aspects of running their businesses.
Peter Lacy/CATO
The Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO) has appointed Peter Lacy, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Goway Travel, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
Lacy brings decades of leadership and industry expertise to the organization during a pivotal time for Canadian outbound travel.
As part of Goway’s senior management team, Lacy brings over 35 years of extensive travel industry experience to the role. He has been instrumental in driving strategic growth and operational change across multiple distribution channels, including trade and retail, as well as in both leisure and corporate travel sectors. His leadership has spanned diverse geographic markets, including North America and Australasia, providing him with a broad and valuable perspective on the global travel landscape.
Lucy Sabella & Sylvia Costa/ACV
Lucy Sabella, vice-president of operations, Air Canada Vacations, is retiring, effective Aug. 1, 2025. Sabella’s 39-year career reflects remarkable growth, resilience, and people-centred leadership. Starting in customer relations, she progressed through the organization to become vice-president of operations, helping modernize systems, improve the customer experience, and strengthen industry partnerships.
Air Canada Vacations also announced the appointment of Sylvia Costa as senior director, operations, effective Aug. 1, 2025.
Costa brings strong operational expertise and leadership experience, having served as director, customer contact centre excellence at Air Canada since 2022 and having previously led key departments at Air Canada Vacations as director, customer experience (2014–2022) and interim head of operations (2019–2020). Her collaborative style and commitment to service excellence make her well equipped to lead the operations team forward.
Amanda Ierfino/WestJet
Effective June 1, Amanda Ierfino will take on the role of Vice-President, Sales & Cargo at WestJet. Ierfino has been a key driver in the development and execution of WestJet’s corporate and agency sales strategy, leveraging the airline’s strong presence in Calgary and building valuable partnerships across the industry. In her expanded role, Ierfino will continue to lead the Sales team while also taking on leadership of WestJet’s Cargo operations.
With the planned transition away from dedicated freighter operations taking place later this year, the Cargo team will shift its focus to maximizing the potential of belly cargo services. Bringing Sales and Cargo together under Amanda’s leadership will create a more unified approach to WestJet’s B2B strategy, reinforcing the airline’s commitment to commercial excellence, operational efficiency and a strong focus on partnerships.
Nicole Conrad/BermudAir
Nicole Conrad has been hired to lead business development efforts across BermudAir’s corporate, TMC, and MICE segments. She will also oversee the Canadian market, supporting route developments such as the upcoming launch of Montreal to Bermuda on June 12 offering twice weekly service and increased Halifax frequencies, while continuing to strengthen the already established Toronto service. Conrad’s extensive experience in international business, most recently as Director of Conferences and Events at Bermuda Business Development Agency, will be instrumental in growing these high-potential segments
Úna O’Leary/Virtuoso
Virtuoso has promoted Úna O’Leary to vice president, global partnerships; a role in which she will oversee the continued expansion of Virtuoso’s preferred partner portfolio across the world. O’Leary will bring her proven leadership and deep understanding of the luxury travel landscape to support the network’s long-term strategic growth. Her appointment underscores the organization’s focus on global alignment, scalable growth and partner success across the nine regions in which Virtuoso operates.
She will continue to be based in Toronto, Canada, reflecting Virtuoso’s commitment to strengthening its global presence with senior executive leadership. Since joining Virtuoso as the organization’s first general manager, Canada, O’Leary has played a pivotal role in establishing Canada as its own market within the Virtuoso network. Under her guidance, the region has experienced notable growth in member engagement, partner relationships and overall performance. In her new role within the organization, O’Leary will now report to Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships Cory Hagopian.
Priscilla Reyes/Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises has promoted Priscilla Reyes to head of sales for North America effective May 1, 2025. In this role, she will oversee strategic and national accounts, charter and incentives, and field sales, working closely with Costa’s team of business development managers focusing on the Italian brand’s footprint in North America.
Reyes will report to Dario Rustico, general manager North & South America for Costa Cruises. She replaces LaDonna Allen who departed the company to pursue further opportunities. Reyes was appointed head of sales from her role as a business development manager with Costa where she worked closely with the cruise line’s largest trade accounts. Prior to joining the company in January 2024, Reyes was immersed in sales and client experience for more than 20 years in positions of increasing responsibility.
Craig Landry; Mark Nasr; Mark Galardo/Air Canada
Effective May 1, certain senior executive management responsibilities at Air Canada will be realigned.
- Craig Landry, previously Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, has been appointed Executive Vice President & Chief Innovation Officer and President of Aeroplan. In his new role, Landry will oversee the corporation’s technology functions, spearheading innovation to improve customer experience, with responsibility for digital, data, cyber security, and artificial intelligence functions. As President of Aeroplan, he will continue to drive Aeroplan’s vision as Canada’s leading travel loyalty program.
- Mark Nasr, previously Executive Vice President, Marketing & Digital and President, Aeroplan, has been appointed Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Officer. In his new role, Nasr will assume responsibility to optimize all aspects of a safe, reliable and efficient operation, while elevating the customer experience throughout Air Canada’s worldwide network. His responsibilities include Flight Operations, Maintenance and Engineering, Airports, In-Flight Service, Contact Centres, International Operations, Regional Express Carriers, and Onboard Cabins and Systems groups.
- Mark Galardo, previously Executive Vice President, Revenue & Network Planning and President, Cargo, has been appointed Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer and President, Cargo. In addition to his current role, Galardo will also be responsible for Marketing, leading the design and development of the Air Canada brand.
Aaron Levine/Zebrano Travel
Zebrano Travel has appointed Aaron Levine as Vice President Operations & Strategic Partnerships at Zebrano Travel effective April 7, 2025.
With more than 24 years of experience in the travel industry, Levine’s dedication to providing luxury clients with exceptional experiences will be an asset to strengthening Zebrano Travel’s mission of providing personalized luxury travel concierge services to ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients.
Levine comes to Zebrano Travel from Laurier Du Vallon Rosedale with Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), where he was most recently Network Manager with responsibilities of leading a team of employees across Canada. Levine has extensive experience with client management, strategic relationships and team management.
