WASHINGTON (Feb. 12, 2024) – The American Hotel & Lodging Association today announced five promotions among its leadership team:

COO, Asia, Premium, Midscale & Economy Division

Garth Simmons began his full-time career in 1988 with the Rydges Hotels & Resorts in Australia before becoming a hotel General Manager in 1998, then Area General Manager. He joined Accor in 2007 in various strategic positions within Australia, first as Regional General Manager for Accor's Victoria, Tasmania and Adelaide hotels, before expanding his portfolio to New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory properties.

CEO

David Teklit is CEO of Teklogix, LLC, a technology consulting and cloud solutions provider company. Teklogix primarily serves the hospitality, telecommunications, and service provider sectors. David is a seasoned professional with a career that spans over 25 years in technology and entrepreneurial endeavors. Prior to founding Teklogix in 2013, David worked for the Jumeirah Group where he was Vice President of Information Technology responsible for global Infrastructure and operations along with a new developments portfolio.

Founder & CEO

Robert ("Rob") Grimes is the Founder & CEO of the IFBTA (the Food and Beverage Technology Association) and is the Host of the Accelerate podcast on the Foodable Network.

The IFBTA was launched at FSTEC (Foodservice Technology Conference and Showcase) 2014 which was founded by Rob in 1996 and is a non-profit professional association promoting and advancing technology and innovation for the global food and beverage industries.

Managing Principal, Hospitality

Dr. Kelly McGuire is Managing Principal, Hospitality, ZS Associates, where she is responsible for helping global hospitality clients improve their commercial strategy and operations, and to find impactful uses for data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning to support their commercial strategy.

Principal

Douglas began his career in the hospitality industry in London with Gleneagles Hotels, followed by employment with Regent International in Australia and Shangri La in China. He was General Manager of the Pan Pacific Bangkok where he was recognized for his community work by UNICEF and played an active role in the Thai Hotels Association.