Who were this week's travel industry movers & shakers?

Who got a new gig this week? Check out this week’s travel industry movers & shakers.

1. Air NZ appoints new Regional General Manager Australia

Air New Zealand has appointed Kathryn Robertson to the newly created role of Regional General Manager Australia.

Kathryn is taking over the role from Leanne Geraghty who has moved to Auckland with the airline to become Regional General Manager Distribution and Corporate.

Kathryn, who is currently based in London as General Manager UK and Europe, has a strong commercial track record with Air New Zealand and is now looking forward to leading the Australian growth strategy when she takes up the position in the Sydney office in late July.

Kathryn joined Air New Zealand from British Midland International in 2007 as Marketing Manager UK and Europe.  She moved to Los Angeles in 2009 to become Director of Marketing, Americas Region, before returning to London as Manager, Commercial and then Sales and Marketing Manager.  In 2014 Kathryn was promoted to General Manager UK and Europe.

2. TripAdvisor appoints Gary Fritz as Chief Growth Officer

TripAdvisor® announced that Gary Fritz has joined TripAdvisor’s management team as the chief growth officer of TripAdvisor and president, Asia Pacific.

In his capacity as chief growth officer, Mr. Fritz is responsible for driving growth and strategy across the entire family of TripAdvisor brands. In his role as president of APAC, he is responsible for leading TripAdvisor’s operations and strategy throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Before joining TripAdvisor, Mr. Fritz founded the advisory and investment group Amanogawa, LLC, where he advised the leadership of several multi-national companies on global strategy and expansion plans, with clients that included Rakuten and TripAdvisor.

Mr. Fritz’s relationship with TripAdvisor spans more than a decade. He held a variety of senior executive roles at Expedia, Inc. from 2003-2012 (when the company was part of Expedia). From 2008 to 2012, Gary served as president, Partner Services Group for Expedia, where he led Expedia’s commercial activity and strategy on a global basis. Mr. Fritz oversaw the sales, technology and operations teams on a global basis.

Prior to Expedia, Mr. Fritz worked with the global consultancy McKinsey & Company for 3 years focused on telecom and distressed debt practices. Mr. Fritz holds a Master’s degree from MIT and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

3. G Adventures welcomes two new GPS

G Adventures has welcomed two new ‘Global Purpose Specialists’ (GPS) to its teams in Victoria and New South Wales.

The newest additions are already on the road helping and training Agents and assisting with bookings to some amazing countries around the world.

Starting only a couple of weeks ago, both are an Agent’s go-to-girls for all things G Adventures, from trip styles to tricky customer questions, Africa to Antarctica.

With over five years of industry wholesale and retail agency experience under her belt, Steph Beard the new Victorian GPS, not only brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the role but understands the challenges faced by agents every day. Steph is looking forward to working with G Adventures’ agency partners to ensure they find the perfect trip to create an experience of a lifetime for their clients. Say hi to Steph on 0432 705 623 or sbeard@gadventures.com

Courtney Dailey, the new NSW GPS, also has five years’ experience in the travel industry, spending several seasons as a tour guide on the Greek Islands and across Asia. It was G Adventures passion for social change, responsible and sustainable tourism that drew her to the company (and perhaps a cheeky trip to the Galapagos Islands at some point). Say hi to Courtney on 0434 692 976 or cdailey@gadventures.com.

4. Eugene Chan joins Amadeus

Amadeus has appointed Eugene Chan as Chief Commercial Officer – Distribution, to lead Amadeus’ travel agency distribution commercial business in Asia Pacific.

Based in Amadeus’ Singapore regional hub and reporting to Amadeus APAC President Albert Pozo, Eugene will be responsible for commercial P&L growth across various geographies in the APAC region and lead the distribution commercial teams, to continue Amadeus’ remarkable trajectory of success, which has already seen it grow to a leading position in both its distribution and airline businesses.

A Singaporean national, Eugene has held senior leadership roles for BCD Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) and a number of leading financial and technology companies in Asia Pacific.

Eugene takes over from Leon Herce, who was been with Amadeus Asia Pacific for more than 5 years. Leon relocates to Buenos Aires, Argentina to lead and head up the Amadeus’ Distribution business in Latin America and the Caribbean.

5. SAA grows its Melbourne team

South African Airways (SAA) has announced the appointment of KJ Slater to the position of Account Executive for Victoria.

KJ has extensive industry experience in a range of travel companies including airlines and ground operators.

Country Manager for Australasia Tim Clyde-Smith said that KJ’s experience in the travel industry and knowledge of the Victorian market would assist SAA as it continued to develop its business in one of Australia’s most important travel markets.

“KJ looks forward to meeting our Victorian industry partners as we continue to build our presence in Victoria and Tasmania in particular.”

Tim Clyde-Smith, SAA Country Manager for Australasia

6. CWT realigns executive team

Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) is realigning its organisation to better drive innovation and differentiation.

The CWT executive leadership team now includes the appointment of  Andrew Jordan, who joined CWT as Chief Technology Officer in April, expands his remit to include end-to-end product delivery lifecycle and innovation.

There’s also Kelly Kuhn, who is now Chief Customer Officer. Kelly’s remit includes global sales, customer engagement and program management, as well as the CWT Global Partners Network. Kelly previously served as President EMEA.

Patrick Andersen is appointed Chief Strategy & Commerce Officer. Patrick’s responsibilities include enterprise strategy, marketing, corporate communications, and CWT’s supplier customer relationships, including technology and distribution partners. Patrick was previously President Americas.

Scott Brennan is appointed President Hotels, leading a new division vertical including all elements of CWT’s end-to-end hotel business. Scott most recently was EVP Global Supplier Management.

David Moran is appointed Chief Human Resources Officer, moving from his prior role as EVP Global Marketing & Enterprise Strategy.

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