Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG) has today announced a re-structure of its global leadership team which the company says will increase the focus on leisure and corporate travel growth.
The Brisbane based company announced that two of its most senior executives, Chris Galanty and Melanie Waters-Ryan, would move into newly created chief executive (CEO) roles responsible for the company’s corporate and leisure businesses respectively.
Chris Galanty was formerly the head of Flight Centre Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business.
In his new role, he will continue to be based in London and will be responsible for FCTG’s rapidly growing corporate travel businesses, which the company says are on track collectively to deliver more than $10billion in total transaction value (TTV) during the 2020 fiscal year (FY20).
FCTG Brand Portfolio 2019
Mr Galanty will also oversee corporate-related transformation initiatives and strategies.
“Chris will work closely with our corporate leaders globally to drive further organic growth across all markets and to ensure we continue to develop our core FCM and Corporate Traveller brands and their compelling customer offerings, plus our smaller, specialist brands.
Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner, FCTG CEO
Mel Waters-Ryan was formerly the company’s chief operating officer.
She will continue to be based in Brisbane and will be responsible for growing FCTG’s established and emerging leisure businesses across Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and India.
Ms Waters-Ryan will also oversee the recently announced ‘The Travel Group’, FCTG’s emerging network of in-destination businesses, and the various leisure-related transformation initiatives that are underway.
READ: Flight Centre Launches In-Destination Power Portfolio ‘The Travel Group’
The FCTG Travel Group
“These enhancements reflect the importance and size of both our leisure and corporate businesses and underline our global growth ambitions in both sectors. As a company, more and more of our strategic decisions are being made based on business type, rather than being based on geographic considerations.”
Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner, FCTG CEO
Three new regional managing directors (MDs) will also join Mr Galanty, Ms Waters-Ryan and chief financial officer Adam Campbell on the new global leadership team.
The new MD appointments are effective from January 1, 2020, and will see:
- EMEA corporate leader Steve Norris succeeds Mr Galanty as London-based EMEA MD. Mr Norris has worked for FLT since 2003 in a career that has spanned the leisure, corporate and wholesale businesses.
- Australian corporate leader James Kavanagh will be promoted to the new Brisbane-based role of Australian MD. Mr Kavanagh has 23 years’ industry experience and has worked for FLT since 2004; and
- American corporate leader Charlene Leiss, the head of the business that has fuelled FLT’s strong profit and TTV growth in the United States and Canada, succeeds Dean Smith as Americas MD. Ms Leiss has worked for FLT and Garber Travel, a Boston-based corporate business that FLT acquired, for 24 years.
“From a broader leadership perspective, we are adding new talent and new ideas to our global leadership team through the new MDs, while also rewarding proven performers with long records of success within the business.” Mr Turner said.
Dean Smith, who is based in New Jersey, will work alongside Ms Waters-Ryan in a strategic global leisure role through to June 30 2020, when he has decided to retire.
“It is fitting though to also highlight the contribution that Dean Smith, our outgoing Americas MD has made,
“Under Dean’s leadership, America’s business has become a major growth driver for the company, as evidenced by the $100million profit it delivered during FY19. Since FY16, underlying earnings in the Americas have increased almost five-fold, which is a testament to Dean and his people.”
Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner, FCTG CEO
Find out more: www.fctgl.com/our-brands