SPAIN/FRANCE. Elior Group has appointed Oscar Vela as the new Worldwide Chief Executive of its concession catering activities brand Areas.
Vela remains CEO of Areas in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. He reports to Elior Group CEO Philippe Guillemot and becomes a member of the group’s Executive Committee.
Vela succeeds Pedro Fontana who joined Areas in 1998 as a member of the Board of Directors and later became Chief Executive. Since then, he has overseen the company’s deep transformation and restructuring. After Elior Group acquired Areas, Pedro Fontana became CEO of concession catering worldwide for Elior Group in August 2015.
Elior Group CEO Philippe Guillemot said: “On behalf of Elior Group, I want to thank Pedro Fontana for his singular dedication in raising the company to the leadership positions it now occupies. I am convinced that Oscar will sustain this high-performance level in his management of the Areas teams worldwide.”
Vela joined Areas in 2009 as CEO Spain & Portugal and Latin America. In this position he was responsible for all food & beverage and travel retail business in airports, motorway service stations and railway stations in Spain, Portugal, Chile, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Colombia.
Vela holds a degree in Business and Market Techniques and Research. He began his career in 1990 at Nutrexpa, a leading group in the Spanish food industry, where he held several positions with duties linked to the Board of Directors and the Planning and Control department. In 1997, he joined Italian snacking firm Unichips as International Director of Operations.
In 2001 he acquired tapas and appetisers restaurant chain Lizarrán through private equity firm Nazca. Over the next eight years, he converted the small local chain into the world’s tapas leader, with a presence in countries such as the USA, Mexico, Germany, Italy and Portugal.
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