John Faught

John directs the expansion of IHG’s mainstream brands in southern Texas. Over his 22 years with IHG, he has developed hotels throughout America’s heartland in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. A lifelong hotel industry professional, John previously served as the Director of Franchise Sales and Development, Mountain Region, for Wyndham Hotels (previously HFS, Inc.). Outside of the office, John spends his free time with his five children and traveling to new destinations.

Estefania Fausto

Estefania joined IHG in 2013 as an assistant in Development upon graduating from Universidad de Guadalajara with a degree in tourism administration. As a business development manager, she supports franchise sales and development in Mexico for the growth of all brands across the country. Her duties also include driving strategic negotiations of all retentions in Mexico, Latin America & the Caribbean. Estefania is originally from California but moved to Mexico at the age of 5. She enjoys soccer, painting, discovering new restaurants, and traveling with her daughters and partner. 

Alexis Feuillat

Alexis Feuillat is the Development Director for CIS, Türkiye & Israel at IHG^®, one of the world’s leading hotel companies. He is responsible for the expansion of IHG’s brand portfolio in the CIS, Türkiye & Israel region through franchise and management agreements. Since joining IHG in 2018, Alexis has secured over 20 projects across conversion and new built hotels, building long-term relationships with owners and expanding IHG’s footprint in new territories.

Prior to IHG, Alexis was the Director for Development with Accor Hotels, where he first started as Project Manager in the Technical department for hotel projects, including design, construction, engineering, equipment and opening.

Alexis holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Moscow State University and a Master’s degree in CIS study from National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations.

Pedro Freire

Pedro Freire has over 20 years of significant experience in the hotel industry.

Before joining IHG team, Pedro was a Vice President of Asset Management at hotelAVE. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the company´s assignments throughout Latin America, which included All-Inclusive and luxury resorts and hotels, totaling more than $1 billion invested and encompassing three thousand keys.

Before hAVE, Pedro has worked for near 15 years at JLL, where he oversaw the Advisory, Asset Management and Investment Sales activities for Hotels & Hospitality team in Brazil. With JLL, Pedro has participated of a wide-variety of valuations and feasibility studies, as well as operator selection processes, management and franchise contract negotiations and asset management assignments, ranging from budget and limited-service properties to luxury hotels and branded residences, destination all-inclusive resorts and luxury second homes in Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American countries.

Additionally, he has been involved in hotel transactions, capital raising and IPO processes related to the development of hotels and resorts with branded residences and second homes.

Prior to joining JLL, Pedro worked as Manager, Acquisitions & Development – Latin America for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, where he participated in franchise and management agreements negotiations and prepared market research and financial analysis for investment opportunities in Brazil and Latin America.

Previously, Pedro worked as sales account executive at the Gran Meliá Mofarrej in São Paulo, Brazil and as a Revenue Management trainee at Marriott Brazil.

Pedro has also completed hotel operations internships at the Rome Cavalieri Waldorf Astoria in Rome, Italy and at the Hotel Astor in Switzerland.

Pedro has a MBA from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo and graduated with Merit from the Les Roches International School of Hotel Management School in Switzerland. He has also undertaken further study in Real Estate Investment, in the Professional Development Program, at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo, Brazil. He is proficient in Portuguese and English, fluent in Spanish and communicates well in French and Italian.

In his leisure time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, son, and friends. He also likes running and walking, watching movies, reading, and traveling.

Cooper Gantt

Cooper is responsible for expediting the growth of IHG’s mainstream brands across the Midwest region of the United States. Advancing within IHG, Cooper’s previous experience includes the role of Business Development Manager where she strove to expand existing franchisee portfolios and identify opportunity markets for future development. Prior to that, she also excelled in various positions as part of IHG's Global Sales Organization. Cooper holds a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management with a minor in Business Administration from Auburn University. In her free time, she enjoys chanting “War Eagle” in support of her beloved Auburn Tigers football team.

Willemijn Geels

Willemijn Geels is Vice President of Development for Europe region at IHG®, one of the world’s leading hotel companies. She is responsible for driving the expansion of IHG's portfolio of brands across Europe, encompassing luxury, upscale and mainstream opportunities through managed and franchised deal structures. In addition to identifying new growth opportunities, Willemijn and her team work closely with owners and investors in a support and advisory capacity to drive long-term revenue.

Prior to joining IHG in 2015, Willemijn was Development & Acquisitions Director at Louvre Hotels Group where she delivered strong returns for European owners. She also gained experience in Deloitte's Transport, Hospitality and Leisure team in Paris, where she led multiple hotel valuations, feasibility studies, and transaction and strategic advisory assignments.

Willemijn graduated from IMHI-ESSEC business school with an MBA degree in International Hospitality Management specialising in Real Estate.

Celina Hargrove

Celina supports the development and growth of IHG’s mainstream brands for the USA and Canada. Prior to joining the Development Team, she began her career with IHG in 2004 in the Accounts Payable Department. Since then, she spent the past 14 years excelling in the Franchising Licensing and Compliance department where she led the process of issuing and executing license agreements, managed negotiations with lenders, and served as the primary liaison between Franchisees and internal personnel. In addition to her career with IHG, Celina owns and manages a trucking company with her husband and has experience as a Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty. Currently, she resides in Snellville, GA with her husband and children. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, salsa dancing and cheering on the New York Giants.

Normann Hauck

Normann Hauck serves as Regional Development Director for Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Prior to joining the Development team, Normann worked with IHG for three years as Feasibility Manager in Investment Analysis. Normann brings over 14 years of international operational hotel experience to the role, working with some of the best-known hotel brands in the industry across the United Kingdom and United States. While working in the U.K., Normann held the role of Director of Operations for an independent hotel where he managed day-to-day operations. After living in Europe for 9 years, Normann returned to the United States taking on an Analyst role. Other cities where Normann has worked include Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, DC, Glasgow, Birmingham and London. He currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia where in addition to his Development role, he teaches at Georgia State University in the Masters of Global Hospitality Management program.

Pathana Jitsaereetham

Pathana Jitsaereetham is Senior Development Manager for South East Asia & Korea at IHG^®, one of the world’s leading hotel companies. Pathana is responsible for the strategic growth of IHG’s portfolio in Thailand.

Prior to joining IHG, Pathana was Development Manager at Asset World Corp (AWC) and Central Pattana (CPN), leading real estate and hotel developers in Thailand. He was also previously Development & Asset Management Manager at Nova Asset Management, a hotel consulting firm based in Thailand.

Pathana holds an MBA from University of Strathclyde, UK and a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.