Palm Beach – A new Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association board was elected during the recent AHATA General Assembly, held at the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino.

The new officers of the board were elected from a slate of candidates presented by a nominating committee headed by General Manager Paul Gielen, Renaissance Aruba Resort, and independent consultant Jaap Beaujon.

The election process was overseen by Dr. Ryan Peterson of the Universidad di Aruba.

The new board of the Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association consists of the following eight members: Rick Zeolla, General Manager, Marriott Aruba Resort; Eduardo De Veer, Developer, Meta Corp; Scott Allen, General Manager, Hyatt Regency; Guillermo Valencia, General Manager Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort; Gary Jutz, General Manager, Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino; Matt Balcik, General Manager, Westin Aruba Resort; Peter Steinmetz, Director, Aruba Airport Authority; David Smith, VP Public Relations, Valero Aruba Refinery.

Two board candidates, Joe Najjar, General Manager, La Cabana Beach & Racquet Club and Andres Pichardo, Senior VP Sales and Marketing, Occidental Grand Aruba, remained available in case of seat vacancy on the board and were invited to attend all meetings effective immediately.

Rob Smith, President and CEO of the Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association reports the new board will conduct its first meeting this week, with hotelier Ewald Biemans, Bucuti Beach Resort & Tara Suites, as Chairman of the Board.