New Appointments at Royal Kona Resort

The Royal Kona Resort on Hawaii Island has added three new managers to its staff. Kenneth Omiya was named executive chef, Emily Blasco was appointed sales manager, and Koji Kato is the new regional director of Sales, Asia Market, for the Royal Kona Resort and its sister property, the Royal Lahaina Resort on Maui.
 
Omiya will manage the resort’s dining outlets, Don the Beachcomber Restaurant and Don’s Mai Tai Bar, as well as the Lava, Legends and Legacies Luau and various banquet events. Omiya started out as a line cook with Flamingo Restaurant Enterprises, and has held positions like Teppanyaki Chef, Executive Banquet Chef, Executive Sous Chef and Executive Chef, at such establishments as the Monarch Hotel, Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton Waikoloa Village.
 
Blasco will expand the leisure market for the property. She is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with a degree in Marketing, and started out at the Foothill Village Apartments in Las Vegas, and Senior Care Communities in Mission Viejo, CA, where she advanced to Sales Director. Blasco entered the hospitality industry upon her arrival in Hawaii; first as Leisure Sales Coordinator with The Fairmont Orchid, and, most recently, as Leisure Sales Manager with Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa.
 
The resort’s owner and management company, Hawaiian Hotels & Resorts, has brought in Kato as Regional Director of Sales, Asia Market, to manage sales in the Asia market for both the Royal Kona Resort and its sister property the Royal Lahaina Resort on Maui. Kato has over twenty years of professional experience in Hawaii-Japan tourism sales and marketing. For some 19 years of his career, he worked for Hankyu Express USA, where he handled administrative, sales and service efforts and became the company’s office manager.