Who got a new gig this week? Check out this week’s travel industry Movers and Shakers.
1. Flight Centre Introduces New Appointments
Flight Centre has made a series of high profile new appointments across its Marketing team to strengthen its core functions and expand into new areas.
A team of new senior leaders with wide-ranging experience from Scoot to Subway Restaurants are now onboard to develop areas such as customer loyalty, creative assets and content.
Head of Flight Centre Australia, Tom Walley, said the new appointments are in line with managing director, Skroo Turner’s directive to push the boundaries and create an emphasis on sales and marketing effectiveness.
“Skroo asked me to establish a world-class sales and marketing machine so our recruitment team focused on gaining high calibre, experienced senior managers to lead the team into the next chapter.”
“On behalf of everyone at Flight Centre, welcome aboard to all our new appointments.”
Tom Walley
Keith Stanley.
Leading the team is Keith Stanley, internally promoted to the new role of Head of Customer Experience.
Stanley is in charge of a team of 90+ Flight Centre marketing professionals, including a senior team made up of six new roles covering Brand & Marketing, Content, Creative, CRM & Loyalty, Digital Experience and Product Analytics.
Flight Centre’s newly appointed Head of Brand and Marketing, Darren Wright, came back to Flight Centre after twelve years at Scoot, AirAsia and Virgin Blue. Wright was Flight Centre’s former Marketing Manager for five years from 1996 – 2001.
Brian Crisp.
Brian Crisp, former Travel Editor of News Corp’s successful Escape lift-out is now filling the new role of Editor-in-Chief of Flight Centre’s Content Team including travel blog and website content, social media and public relations.
Crisp and the content team are busy engaging with audiences across all social channels and traditional mediums, including Flight Centre’s 500,000+ Facebook followers.
Luke Wheatley is heading up the newly formed Creative Studio, tasked with strengthening the Flight Centre brand across all media, content and digital streams.
Wheatley was the former Senior Marketing Manager at Ripe Solutions, responsible for the marketing strategies for the Subway brand in Australia.
The Creative Studio consists of 35 project managers, graphic designers and other creative types. Together, the studio pushes out Flight Centre’s print and TV ads, in-store branding, brochures, marketing collateral and other creative.
Jeremy Medina, newly appointed CRM & Loyalty Manager, joins the Flight Centre team with 19 years in the Casino industry.
His appointment is part of Flight Centre’s “customer-centric revolution” to improve the customer experience by implementing leading edge technologies and customer segmentation to dramatically increase ease of use and add value to the customer at every touch point.
Tiffany Apatu.
Tiffany Apatu, internally promoted to Head of Digital Experience, is responsible for how people digitally interact with Flight Centre; looking after everything from development and design to user experience and digital marketing channels.
Apatu has spent the last four years at Flight Centre as Leader of User Experience and before that, spent 15 years in customer and user experience roles at Virgin Australia, Suncorp and UX consultancies.
2. CMO Nick Baker to Leave Tourism Australia
Nick Baker.
Tourism Australia has today confirmed that its chief marketing officer, Nick Baker, has tendered his resignation and will be leaving the organisation at the end of January 2015.
Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O’Sullivan, said after seven years helping guide the country’s tourism marketing strategy, and with a string of successful campaigns under his belt, Nick had decided it was time to look for new challenges outside of Australia’s national tourism organisation.
“Nick has led a marketing team which has helped deliver arguably three of our most successful global campaigns, including There’s nothing like Australia, Best Jobs in the World and, of course, Restaurant Australia.
“All of these campaigns have been meticulously planned, well executed, and, importantly, done so through strong teamwork and successful partnership with industry and our state and territory partners. Another major achievement, for which Nick should be very proud, has been the creation of one of the world’s most successful social media marketing strategies.
“We will not only miss Nick’s marketing expertise but his enormous enthusiasm and passion for our industry and for the Tourism Australia brand.
Mr Baker said that the seven year journey he had been on with Tourism Australia had been the most significant of his professional life.
“Being part of such a dedicated team, getting to work on so many important projects with industry and our other partners has been incredible. Together, we’ve achieved some great things and that feeling of a job well done gives me great satisfaction.”
Mr Baker
Mr Baker said that the marketing strategy at Tourism Australia was now much more than big campaigns.
“I believe we’ve developed a clear strategy to move our global marketing forward and also created the digital and social platforms necessary to compete globally in a hugely competitive market place,” he said.
As a measure of the high professional regard that he is held by his peers, Mr Baker was named as the 2014 ‘marketer of the year’ by the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA).
Mr Baker has agreed to stay with Tourism Australia until the end of January 2015, to enable the organisation to find a replacement and also allow him to oversee the completion of Restaurant Australia and other key projects.
Tourism Australia has already begun the process of recruiting a replacement, which will be announced in due course.
3. IHG has appointed Adeline Ng as Vice President of Strategy for Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA)
Adeline Ng
A member of the AMEA Regional Operating Committee, Adeline will be based in IHG’s regional head office in Singapore.
As head of strategy, Adeline will lead the strategic agenda for IHG in AMEA by evaluating market dynamics and identifying emerging growth opportunities, helping to ensure that IHG retains its strong leadership position in the region. She will also lead key business planning processes and support the tracking of IHG’s performance against growth targets.
Adeline was most recently with US-based The WhiteWave Foods Company, where she held multiple roles in strategic planning and finance. Her experience also includes positions with global consulting firms McKinsey & Company and Innosight, as well as the Supreme Court of Singapore. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and degrees in law and accounting/finance from the London School of Economics.
Jan Smits, Chief Executive Officer, Asia, Middle East and Africa, IHG said, “Adeline joins us with a strong background in business analyses and strategic planning across a number of sectors and markets.”
“I have no doubt this will bring considerable value to the company and our leadership team as we expand our business and look for new ways to deliver world-class guest experiences.”
Jan Smits
Commenting on her appointment, Adeline said, “Asia, Middle East and Africa are fast-paced regions which hold immense growth potential for the hospitality industry. I believe IHG is well-positioned to win, given the strength of our brands and world-class systems. I look forward to using my experience in strategy and innovation to help IHG navigate this exciting growth journey, and am thrilled to be joining the talented team in AMEA.”
4. IHG Names Deborah Woollard as Vice President for Human Resources in Asia, Middle East and Africa Region
Deborah Woollard.
Deborah joins IHG with more than 15 years in human resources. Prior to this, she was with Abbott Laboratories, overseeing regions spanning Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and looking after key emerging markets such as Russia, India and China. Deborah began her career with Unilever where she spent more than ten years building her career in talent development and HR. She has lived and worked in London, Australia and Singapore, where she has now resided for nearly seven years.
Jan Smits said: “We operate in a very competitive environment today, and being in the service industry it is absolutely critical to our growth that we hire the right people, and retain them. With Deborah’s strong background in HR and her experience working across our markets, we believe she will bring a fresh perspective to our team and help us stand out as the preferred employer in the industry.”
Commenting on her appointment, Deborah said, “As one of the largest hotel companies in the world, IHG’s strong leadership team and high level of employee engagement are well recognised amongst the industry.”
“With its ambitious plans to grow its talent pool by over 50 percent by next year, there is immense growth potential for talent development and I look forward to working with the dynamic team at IHG to grow its reputation as the preferred company to work for.”
Deborah Woollard
Deborah succeeds Zareena Brown, who has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Talent and Leadership Development, IHG.
5. Mandy Scotney joins RWR Group as CEO
Mandy Scotney.
Mandy brings a strong track record of success to the RWR Group with more than 10 years senior management experience gained in both the recruitment and travel industries.
Most recently Mandy worked with House of Travel Australia as Executive General Manager for Hoot and TravelManagers and made a significant contribution to the growth of that business in Australia.
“I’m so excited to be taking this step in my career. Recruitment is an industry that combines my passion for helping business grow with my love of seeing careers flourish. I’m thrilled to be here! ”
Mandy Scotney
The RWR Group encompasses Hospoworld, a specialist recruitment firm providing recruitment solutions to the hospitality , travel and tourism industries in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
Mandy states she has always been a passionate advocate for the career opportunities within Travel & Tourism.
“Having Hospoworld within the RWR portfolio means that I can continue to promote the incredible career opportunities within travel and stay connected to an industry that will always hold a special place in my heart.”
6. European Waterways Hires Former Le Boat Owner Debbie Petermann to Enhance U.S. Customer Services
Debbie Petermann.
European Waterways announced that it has signed an agreement with Debbie Petermann, former owner of self-drive boating holiday company Le Boat, to help enhance the company’s customer services initiatives in the U.S.
As an owner of Le Boat, Debbie was a pioneer in selling hotel barge cruises to the American market. The company later became better known for its self-drive boating vacations after it was sold.
Based in Clearwater, Florida, Debbie will assist European Waterways’ U.S. agents and clients with their inquiries.
“Debbie’s vast knowledge of the hotel barging industry and extensive experience working with U.S. travel agents will be a valuable addition to our customer service offerings.”
Derek Banks, managing director of European Waterways
And he continues: “In coordination with our U.K. offices, she will make booking with us a more seamless process, expanding the hours that we are available to assist agents with their needs. We are pleased to have an industry professional of her caliber onboard.”