Shilpan Patel (left) and Gustavo Viescas.
Leveraging its strong talent bench, Wyndham appoints Shilpan Patel to lead North America Franchise Operations and Gustavo Viescas to lead the LATAMC region.
PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has promoted Shilpan Patel to executive vice president, North America Franchise Operations, and Gustavo Viescas to president, LATAMC, and elevated both to the company's Executive Committee effective immediately. With nearly 45 combined years, the two company veterans have extensive experience helping Wyndham franchisees and owners around the globe succeed.
"A Wyndham core tenet is promoting from within thanks to our exceptional bench of leadership talent," said Geoff Ballotti, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts president and chief executive officer. "Both Shilpan in North America and Gustavo in Latin America, are focused on delivering for our owners – existing and new – and I'm confident the relationships they've built over the years will continue to flourish as they take on these expanded roles."
In his new role, Shilpan now oversees Franchise Operations, Brand Operations, Franchise Services and Managed Operations with a team spanning North America. Shilpan has held various finance, operations and franchise service leadership positions throughout his nearly 20 years at Wyndham, most recently responsible for leading its contract administration and relicensing efforts while driving industry-leading economy retention rates across its brands. Shilpan is a Certified Public Accountant, who began his career as an auditor at Deloitte & Touche after graduating from Penn State University.
Based in Buenos Aires, Gustavo takes on the day-to-day management and success of Wyndham's LATAMC region consisting of approximately 250 hotels in nearly 30 countries. Gustavo has been instrumental in growing the region including launching two new brands (Alltra and Registry Collection) and closing industry-leading deals with notable strategic development partners like Playa Hotels & Resorts and Palladium Hotel Group. Gustavo has held multiple roles of increasing responsibility over his past 25 years with Wyndham leading the finance, administration, reporting, planning and operations for both RCI and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Gustavo graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and holds his Master's degree in Finance from UADE, Buenos Aires.
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