Crystal Cruises has appointed Wendy Lin as regional sales manager for Asia-Pacific, marking the first time the luxury line has based staff in the region. Based in Taipei, Taiwan, Lin will work closely with Crystal’s international sales representatives, independent agencies and incentive houses throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Lin will report to Karen Mann, Crystal’s director, international sales, whose territory spans Mexico and South America, as well as Asia-Pacific.

For the past eight years, Lin has been Crystal Cruises’ international sales representative for Taiwan. In that time, Lin has significantly grown the travel agency bookings from Taiwan and developed creative promotions to generate new business and support Crystal’s repeat clientele. She has also served as a consultant for business development at the Ambassador Hotels Group in Taiwan.

In addition to speaking several languages, Lin has earned a Master of Economics from Washington State University and two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Hotel Management from Washington State University and César Ritz in Switzerland.

“Asia-Pacific is one of the fastest growing regions in cruising and we’re delighted to expand our sales coverage of the region with the addition of Wendy Lin,” says Mann. “Besides her extensive onboard experience and Crystal product knowledge, Wendy has a great attitude and is results oriented.”

The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), an organization dedicated to best practices in professional publishing, today announced that Alan Lammin has been re-elected as SOPA Chairman following a unanimous vote at the annual general meeting.

Mr Lammin, who recently announced his retirement as Publishing Director of Time Asia, will remain at the helm of SOPA until the end of March 2009 when his retirement takes effect.

Terence Tung, CEO of One Media Group, will continue in his role as SOPA’s Deputy Chairman.

Mr Lammin is a seasoned veteran of the publishing industry in Asia. Before assuming the position of Publishing Director, Asia, Time, in April 2005, he spent five years as Vice President & Managing Director, Asia for BusinessWeek, working in a regional capacity out of Singapore and Hong Kong. Prior to that, he spent 18 years in Japan working in a number of sales-related positions at McGraw-Hill.

“I am delighted to continue in the role of Chairman of The Society of Publishers in Asia and would like to thank all the board members for re-electing me to this position,” said Mr Lammin.

Mr Lammin said the year ahead was likely to be challenging for the publishing industry.

“In these uncertain times, no one can be quite sure of the true nature of the challenges that lie ahead for the industry in Asia. This is all the more reason to continue with the strong leadership SOPA has enjoyed over the years and to provide a platform for Asian and international publishers to network and collaborate on common industry issues,” commented Mr Lammin.

Sun Life Hong Kong today announces the appointment of Vivian Choi as Head of Individual Life Operations.

In this role, Ms Choi will be responsible for the operations of Sun Life Hong Kong’s life insurance business. She directly reports to Roger Steel, CEO of Sun Life Hong Kong.

“With over 20 years’ experience in the life insurance industry, Ms Choi is an ideal candidate to lead our life operations,” said Mr Steel. “She has extensive experience in managing life and agency operations as well as system development projects, and has proven abilities in providing excellent customer service.”

Ms Choi joins Sun Life from Fortis Hong Kong (formerly Pacific Century Insurance), where she was Senior Vice President, Operations & Chief Operating Officer. Previously, she held senior roles in life operations and customer service functions for Prudential, Jardine CMG Life (now part of Sun Life) and AXA. Ms Choi was also one of the pioneers who established the Distinguished Customer Service Award for the life insurance industry in Hong Kong, when she served as the President of the FLMI Society of Hong Kong (currently named the LOMA Society of Hong Kong). Ms Choi is a Fellow of the Life Insurance Management Institute and an Associate Life and Health Claim.

Visa Inc. today announced the appointment of David Lee as president of its Asia Pacific region. He succeeds Rupert Keeley, who was recently appointed Visa Inc.’s Global Head of Strategy and Corporate Development. In this role, Lee will be responsible for continuing to grow Visa Inc.'s business in the region. Lee will report to Hans Morris, President of Visa Inc.

“Asia Pacific is an extremely diverse region that includes some of the world’s most sophisticated, fastest growing and most technologically advanced economies. With the emerging giants of China and India, as well as number of other significant developing economies, it presents a wealth of potential opportunities for the payment industry and will be the focus for much of the company’s development in the coming years,” said Joe Saunders, Chairman and CEO of Visa Inc. “David has been at the heart of Visa’s growth in Asia for many years and his deep experience and commercial acumen ideally suit him to lead the region’s well-established and diverse management team.”

Lee joined Visa in 1985 from international accounting firm Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. He has held a number of roles in the Singapore regional headquarters culminating in his appointment as Chief Operating Officer in 2007. As COO, he was responsible for strategy, planning, human resources, client support, systems, financial operations and administration across the region at a time when the company continued to strengthen its leadership in the region.

Born in Malaysia, David was educated in Singapore where he was awarded the Lee Foundation Prize by Singapore’s Chartered Association of Certified Accountants as the year’s top graduate on gaining his ACCA. In 2003, he graduated from the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. David currently serves as a director of the National Library Trust Board, the Singapore Management University School of Accountancy Advisory Board, and the Naval Base School Advisory Board – his alma mater. Most recently he was appointed to the board of Visa Processing Service Pte. Ltd. (VPS), a joint venture between Visa Inc. and Yalamanchili Software Exports (P) Limited, a leading payments processor and software products and solutions company with operations in India and Singapore. He is married with three children.

Sun Life Financial Asia is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Goodall to the position of Vice President, Regional Distribution.

In this role, Mr. Goodall will be responsible for developing distribution channels in the Asia region and will work with Sun Life Financial country leaders to help develop and execute strategies for expanding our business.

Mr. Goodall has held a number of senior roles in financial planning firms and insurance companies in Australia. He has extensive experience in managing distribution channels and most recently, headed up his own financial planning business. Prior to that, he held positions at ANZ Financial Planning, ING Australia and Zurich Insurance.