Effective Jan. 16, Loyalty Management Group appointed John Wright, formerly vice-president, account director with Chiat/Day Direct, to the newly formed post of vice-president of marketing.

Before joining Chiat/Day, Wright worked for Promanad Communications and O&M Direct.

– New York-based Tiffany has promoted Barbara Kovacs to the position of vice-president of Tiffany Canada.

Kovacs, who joined Tiffany Canada in 1991, was most recently director and general manager of Tiffany’s retail store in Toronto.

Her new role includes responsibilities for retail and corporate sales and marketing.

– IBM Canada has tapped a longtime ibm staffer, who joined the organization in Canada but has held a number of international posts, as its new president and chief executive officer.

Khalil Barsoum replaces Bill Etherington, who has been promoted to general manager, industry solutions with IBM North America. Etherington will be transferring to New York.

– Sabre Travel Information Network of Toronto has promoted Reet Muur to president of Sabre Canada.

Muur, a native of Montreal, has been managing director of Sabre Canada for the last four years. In her new role, she will expand her list of responsibilities to include marketing.

– The Swiss National Tourist Office has appointed Federico Sommaruga as its new Canada director. The post has been vacant since August.

Sommaruga, a native of Switzerland, spent the last eight years as director of Rail Europe’s call centre in Boulder, Colo.

Before that, he worked for the Swiss National Tourist Office in New York.