Accor’s chief commercial officer and loyalty program lead for Pacific, Renae Trimble is switching hotel stays for football, joining the National Rugby League as chief commercial officer.

Her switching into the sporting code comes after 17 years with the Accor business, working her way through corporate sales to regional director of sales and marketing, director of loyalty, VP of digital and loyalty in Australia, senior VP of commercial for AccorHotels Pacific, then chief commercial officer. For the last two years, Trimble has been the CEO of the Accor Plus program. She started her career in hotels, working for Rydges and Marriott before joining the Accor group.

In a LinkedIn post, Trimble said it was a tough decision to leave a company she’d called home for the last 17 years.

“My time at Accor has been filled with growth, challenges and countless rewarding experiences and many amazing memories and lots and lots of fun. A job that has enabled me to travel the world,” she stated.

Trimble took up the NRL post in March and takes the reins from Caroline Dempsey, who has been the interim EGM of commercial for the last year.

Trimble’s appointment comes as NRL’s GM of marketing, brand and ticketing, Corina Black, also exited in favour of a CMO role with Flynn Group. As reported in Mi3, Black is now the CMO of Wendy’s in the Asia Pacific region, following the US franchisee operator’s launch of the quick service restaurant’s first Australian store in January.

Prior to her four-and-a-half years with NRL, Black held senior marketing and commercial roles at the Australian Turf Club, Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.