HANOI, Vietnam — After five years on Sofitel launches in Phnom Penh and Bangkok, Anthony Slewka-Armfelt is settling in as director of sales and marketing for one of the most storied and established properties in the group’s portfolio, the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi.
Anthony Slewka-Armfelt has directed commercial activity for all Sofitels across Southeast Asia and India since 2008. In 2009, Sofitel regional positions were moved on property where Anthony was positioned in two Sofitel opening projects, first in Phnom Penh and then in Bangkok.
In Hanoi, his focus will be trained on a single hotel while he maintains regional sales responsibilities for Sofitel.
“This opportunity,” he said, “will be incredibly luxurious, motivating and dynamic.”
Slewka-Armfelt’s journey to his current role as a director of sales and marketing proceeded outside the usual channels. While his peers marched from hotel school into sales offices of various brands, Slewka-Armfelt was deployed in many parts of the world as a NATO commander.
After more than a decade as a military officer, the Canadian national changed tack and went to work as a commercial consultant on industrial and FMCC projects throughout the Middle East and Africa. He traveled overland on a 45,000-kilometer journey from the Arctic to South Africa on a year-long commercial expedition.
In 2003, he shifted gears out of consulting and joined Accor on a hotel complex in Dubai. After five years in the Middle East with Accor, including dual responsibilities as regional director of sales for Middle East countries and a more specific oversight role at the commercial opening of the Sofitel The Palace The Old Town Dubai, he relocated to Southeast Asia and moved into sales for Sofitel Luxury Hotels.
