Who got a new gig this week? Check out this week’s travel industry movers & shakers.
1. Buffalo Tours appoints new GM in Australia
Buffalo Tours has appointed Greg Martin as the Sales Office General Manager in Australia.
The new appointment support the growth of Buffalo Tours in line with new wholesale partnerships including Scenic Tours, Wendy Wu Tours and more recently Topdeck which celebrated its Asia launch in April.
Greg Martin brings over 25 years of Australian wholesale travel experience to Buffalo Tours. Based in Sydney, Greg will head up the sales office which supports existing and new trade partners.
Greg Martin comments: “I was attracted to work for Buffalo Tours because of their strong focus on responsible tourism and unique product development. The Local Life product range has been a hit with our trade partners and we are looking forward to the July release of our Master Class range of experiences”.
Buffalo Tours has experienced more than 100 percent growth in 2015 as the company expanded into six new destinations. This growth supports Buffalo Tours’ plan to become the strongest DMC in Asia while offering original experiences and staying true to its vision to “Change Lives Through Travel”.
2. Gregory Lording appointed helloworld Group GM Wholesale
Helloworld Limited (HLO) announced the appointment of Gregory Lording as Group General Manager Wholesale.
Mr Lording joins Helloworld after spending the last 15 years with Flight Centre Limited. During his time at Flight Centre Mr Lording was most recently Global Leader of the Corporate TMC Division, FCM Travel Solutions, and also spent three years as President of Flight Centre’s corporate division for the America’s managing operations in both North and South America.
Helloworld Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Burnes, said he was delighted that Mr Lording was taking on this vital role within the Helloworld business.
Mr Burnes also thanked Peter Egglestone for his leadership of the business over the last 4 years, stating: “Peter Egglestone has done a tremendous job steering the Wholesale businesses through a difficult transition period for Helloworld Limited and prior to that played integral roles in the business including its commercial and retail divisions. I thank Peter for his contribution and wish him all the very best for the future”.
The appointment of Mr Lording now completes the restructure of the Senior Management Team within the wholesale business – headed by Helloworld Executive Director Cinzia Burnes – following on from the appointment of Joe McCormack as General Manager Procurement and David Green as General Manager Sales. Together with Jason Buckley in New Zealand & Gary Goldner in Los Angeles, Mr Burnes stated that this team will continue to grow and develop Helloworld’s Wholesale businesses in the years ahead.
3. Teresia Fors sails away from Viking
When you think of Viking Cruises in Australia, you think of the contagiously enthusiastic, bright and funny, Teresia Fors.
For eight years, she’s been the face of the cruise line in the country and the go-to person for anything Viking.
She established the local sales and marketing office back in 2008, she helped grow the business from one to now 35 staff members, she promoted the line’s transition into ocean cruising and she was even the driving force behind bringing one of those new ocean vessels down to Australia.
4. Heritage Queenstown gets a new GM
Heritage Hotel Management is delighted to welcome Mike Garvey to the role of general manager of Heritage Queenstown. Garvey joins Heritage Hotels from Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific where he has held a management role for the past four years.
He has a wealth of hospitality experience with over 20 years in hotel management. His assignments have been challenging and diverse from being the opening manager of a large international hotel property in Papua New Guinea, through to resident manager of a resort complex on the Gold Coast of Australia.
Amongst many of his career assignments he has managed hotels with large conference venues giving him a unique understanding of the meetings and incentives market.
5. Coral Expeditions adds staff and moves to new HQ
Coral Expeditions has outgrown its former Cairns head office as it enters a significant growth phase.
The company has moved to a new HQ and created two new roles.
Elizabeth Webb has been appointed as Sales Distribution Manager.
Elizabeth will be known to many in the industry from her 14 years on the sales and marketing team at RTO Tourism Tropical North Queensland. At Coral Expeditions she is responsible for travel agent liaison, setting contracts with trade partners and coordinating advertising opportunities.
Jasmin Budden joins Coral Expeditions to take up the new position of Branding and Communications Specialist, bringing skills developed in international marketing and promotion for Boost Juice Bars.
She supports Sales and Marketing Executive Tiffany Marcantelli to produce marketing materials, manage the company’s newly revamped website and social media channels.
6. Robyn Efurd rejoins AlliedPRA
AlliedPRA, Inc. announces Robyn Efurd, CMP as Director of Operations, overseeing the AlliedPRA Palm Springs and San Diego locations, effective immediately, according to Annette Gregg, CMM, MBA, Vice President, West, AlliedPRA, Inc.
As part of the Southern California Operations Team, Efurd is responsible for overseeing planning, development, implementation and client interactions, as well as managing various operations teams in two AlliedPRA destinations. In addition, Efurd will manage the preferred supplier relationships and overall logistics of all AlliedPRA programs in the Palm Springs and San Diego destinations.
Efurd brings to AlliedPRA a strong background in logistics and event planning across many facets of the global meetings and events industry.
In her previous positions with AlliedPRA she served in operations management roles, ensuring franchise standards were upheld during program execution, in addition to training new franchise offices on standards and procedures. Most recently she was the Director of Events for Vistage Worldwide and served as an integral member of the company-wide growth strategy team focusing on higher-value events and programs.
Efurd is an active member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and has served as a speaker for HSMAI meetings. She is a graduate of the Dale Carnegie Training Course and the recipient of several industry-related awards in recognition of her outstanding service delivery methods. In addition, she planned and operated the 1st runner up Program for Best Incentive Trip or Meeting by BizBash’s Event Style Awards.
7. Senior tourism executive appointed to SkyDrive Board
Skydive the Beach Group Limited Australia and New Zealand’s leading skydiving adventure tourism company, is pleased to announce it has appointed aviation and tourism expert Colin Hughes as a Non-Executive Director, effective today.
Colin brings more than 40 years’ experience to the role through a variety of senior aviation and tourism management positions.
He is currently Chairman of Business Events Sydney, an Executive Director of airline representation group, Aviation Online and a Board member for Best Western Hotels Australia. He also currently serves as a Member on the Board of Trustees for the Travel Compensation Fund.
Prior to this, Colin was Group General Manager, International Operations for Qantas Airways, Vice- President, Asia Pacific for Northwest Airlines and General Manager Australia for Continental Airlines (now United Airlines).
