DALLAS — Veteran hotel industry executive Steve Sickel has been named interim CEO of Room Key, the experience-tailored hotel search engine created by six of the world’s leading hotel companies. He succeeds John Davis, who has led the company since its inception and has decided to step down from the post at the end of September.
One of the founding leaders who conceived of and brought Room Key to market in 2012, Sickel previously served for more than 13 years at IHG, most recently as Senior Vice President, Distribution and Relationship Marketing. Sickel departed IHG in late 2013, when he left to launch his own consulting company; he now returns to a Room Key leadership role until a permanent CEO is named.
“John Davis has played a vital role in launching this company and creating a strong foundation from which Room Key will continue to evolve and grow,” said Jeff Diskin, Chairman of the Room Key Board of Directors and EVP Commercial Services at Hilton Worldwide. “As he transitions the reins of CEO, we are fortunate to have an executive as experienced and talented as Steve on board to lead the company forward as we continue to build on our many successes.”
Diskin noted that Sickel will focus on advancing Room Key’s efforts to expand its core business-to-consumer meta-search offering while also planning and developing a broad business-to-business distribution product offering. He will also lead marketing, product and technology efforts in addition to overseeing Room Key’s finance, legal and human resources operations.
“Room Key is a compelling platform with an exciting future in store,” said Sickel. “I look forward to furthering the progress the company has made in just over two years, including achieving substantial conversion rate growth and increasing hotel inventory by more than double since launch.”
