Disney executive and longtime industry leader George Aguel has been given a new assignment for The Walt Disney Company, expanding his role overseeing the Global Corporate Alliances and Operating Participants organizations. To accommodate this increased focus, he will relinquish his responsibilities overseeing Disney’s global meetings and events business.
Aguel originally assumed leadership of the Corporate Alliances team in 2010, adding to a portfolio of responsibilities that included Disney’s Resort/Park Sales and Services teams, the Disney Institute and the Disney Event Group.
In his expanded role, Aguel continues to lead Corporate Alliances, the team that forges strategic partnerships with a broad range of corporations in support of all of Disney business units, including film studios and media networks, theme parks and resorts, consumer products and interactive media. He also remains responsible for the Operating Participants group, which develops and manages relationships with third-party companies that operate businesses at Disney theme park locations worldwide.
The dedicated leadership focus under Aguel’s direction reflects the importance of these partnerships and the ambitious growth Disney has planned for them. That growth includes the $4.4 billion Shanghai Disney Resort under construction in China.
“As much as I look forward to expanding the scope of my Alliances and Operating Participants work, I will greatly miss being a part of the industry I’ve served my entire career,” said Aguel. “I also have the utmost confidence that our Disney team will continue to be a powerful partner to the industry and provide our clients with incomparable meeting and event experiences.”
Anne Hamilton, vice president, Resort Sales and Services, will continue to lead the Resort Sales and Services organizations supporting the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts and Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii. Hamilton will report to Rick Continelli, who assumes the role of senior vice president, Resort/Park Sales and Services.
Aguel has long been a champion for the meeting industry. A past chairman of Visit Orlando, he will continue to serve his current term on the organization’s executive committee. He is also past chairman of MPI and has held board and executive committee positions with the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the U. S. Travel Association (USTA) and the Convention Industry Council.