New President for Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts

Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts has appointed Mr. Akihito (Arthur) Ikeda as its new President and Mr. Steve Halliday as President of Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts North America. Ikeda-san and Halliday assumed their positions 1 April, 2005.

Prior to his appointment as the President of the hotel chain, Ikeda-san worked with Tokyu Group, the parent company of Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts. Ikeda-san has background in town planning and one of his biggest achievements is the success of Tokyu’s Yanchep project in Western Australia, where Tokyu and the Government of Western Australia jointly developed a 6,000 hectare sub-city in Perth. He was also responsible for Tokyu Group’s leisure and recreation projects both domestically in Japan and overseas markets. 

“My new role will open up opportunities and allow me to apply my hospitality knowledge at a corporate level. I am looking ahead to the future, where I can leverage on the current success of Pan Pacific and propel this brand forward,” said the determined Ikeda-san.

Born in Japan, Ikeda-san has a degree in civil engineering from Kyoto University and earned his MBA at New York University. He has worked in the US, where he was involved in the Mauna Lani Resort development in Hawaii and in Australia, as the Managing Director of the previously mentioned Yanchep project.

Said, Mr. Ichigo Umehara, the outgoing President, “I am very confident that Ikeda-san will be able to undertake the challenges in his new role. With his extensive experience, he will be able to bring the Pan Pacific brand to greater heights. It has been a fulfilling experience for me and I would like to wish Ikeda-san the same satisfaction.”

Ikeda-san succeeds Umehara-san who was the President of the hotel chain for the past 14 years. Umehara-san will move on to become the President of Tokyu Hotels Co. Ltd where his new role will be to develop synergies between the two companies, and as such will be relocating to Tokyo in the near future. He will also assume the mantle as Chairman of Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts.

Similarly, Halliday’s experience will also hold him in good stead for his new position. He has been part of the Pan Pacific group since 1984, where he was responsible for the opening of Pan Pacific Vancouver to the World’s Expo in 1986. Since then he has moved with the group as the Executive Vice President, Operations and Marketing at the Pan Pacific Corporate Office. Halliday later became Vice President and also the General Manager of Pan Pacific Singapore. In 2000, he was appointed as Senior Vice President as well as General Manager of Pan Pacific Vancouver, before taking on his new role.

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