American heads Hotel Nongshim

Hotel Nongshim said Monday it named American consultant John Erskine Banta its chief executive.

Banta led the Busan hotel’s renovation from December 2010 through this month and is credited with enhancing staff service, leadership training and customer marketing.

Nongshim Group acquired the Dongnae Tourist Hotel in 1960, rebuilt it into a 240-room hotel and renamed it Hotel Nongshim.

Only three hotels in Korea ― the Grand Hyatt Seoul, Millennium Hilton Seoul and Best Western Incheon ― have foreign CEOs.

Banta has headed a hotel consulting firm after working in Japan’s Miyako Hotel and the Hyatt Hotel in the United States.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)