Sid Vaikunta

An experienced hotel and casino executive and former general manager of marketing and strategy with the Echo Entertainment Group in Australia, Sid Vaikunta started his career as a front office supervisor with Hyatt Hotels and Resorts in Atlanta. After two years with Hyatt, he accepted an offer to become a development planning coordinator with Marriott International, Inc., in Bethesda, Maryland. In this role, Sid Vaikunta worked closely with the vice president of development to forecast occupancy and ADR for limited service brands under the Marriott umbrella.

In 1999, Sid Vaikunta became a senior development analyst with Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He quickly worked his way up to director of development, where he evaluated prospective restaurant and chef partners from locations such as Los Angeles, New York City, and Philadelphia. Sid Vaikunta also designed marketing materials and business plans for the hotel’s convention space, drove a multi-channel recruitment marketing campaign, and helped the casino operations and marketing department with various complimentaries and room allocations. After just under two years as a director of development, he became the director of marketing and, later, vice president of marketing at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

Most recently, Sid Vaikunta served as the GM of the Echo Entertainment Group in Sydney, Australia. He currently works as a managing director with Sobha Developers Ltd. in Dubai.

Mr. Vaikunta holds a bachelor of science in hotel, restaurant, and travel administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He also completed a master of management in hospitality at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.