NEWS ROUND-UP


COMMENT: “It doesn’t matter what age you are – what matters is that your holiday reflects the things you really enjoy” Giles Hawke, page 32


Travelopia eyes purchases by selling education arm


Juliet Dennis juliet.dennis@travelweekly.co.uk


Travelopia is to roll out new technology across its tour operator portfolio as it looks to acquire more specialist brands after putting its education division up for sale.


The group of 42 experiential independent operators, including Hayes & Jarvis, Citalia, Sunsail and Jetsave, announced a two-year investment plan as it revealed it will put its 10 education brands, such as UK-based Travelbound and SkiBound, on sale this spring. Chief executive Will Waggott


said selling them would free up funds to reinvest in the rest of Travelopia’s portfolio. This would include new front-end selling systems, CRM systems, websites and apps across its brands, making them more user-friendly for both travel agents and consumers. The group has already started


improving its selling systems but it is likely to take two years to introduce new technology across the portfolio. Ultimately, it will


Jet2holidays seeks two sales executives after duo promoted


Jet2holidays has announced two promotions in its trade sales team, opening up two new vacancies. The operator has promoted


Lloyd Cross from senior sales executive to regional sales manager, replacing Helen Parry, who left to start her own independent agency Arundel Travel. Cross, son of head of


“They are really good businesses but they don’t fit with the experiential group”


fit with its specialist, experiential collection. “We have been looking the


last six to seven months and when something right comes along we’ll look at it but there is nothing imminent,” he added. Waggott is hopeful the education division will be sold this summer to a private equity group or a trade buyer, but said the group was “not in a terrible rush”. He added: “There will be a lot of


WAGGOTT: Seeking a trade or private equity buyer for brands


mean brands share the same technology systems. Waggott said: “We are going to replace everything.” The group is also looking to acquire other brands that would


Stepping up: Leiza Sullivan


interest. It’ll be on sale in the next month or so; we are in the middle of the preparation phase. “They are really good businesses,


but strategically they don’t fit with the experiential travel group.” The Travelopia division of specialist businesses was sold by Tui in February 2017 to current owners, private equity firm KKR, for £325 million.


Promotion: Lloyd Cross


Leiza Sullivan has stepped


up to senior sales executive, taking responsibility for managing trade relations with independent agency partners across West Yorkshire and Lancashire. She joined the operator in 2012 and worked in the company’s airports and tourism organisations team before joining the trade team in 2016.


Jet2holidays is now recruiting


trade Alan Cross, has worked at Jet2.com and Jet2holidays since 2013. He will now be


10 travelweekly.co.uk 1 March 2018


responsible for managing a team of sales executives and senior sales executives.


for two trade sales executives to join its 16-strong trade team, covering the northwest and Northern Ireland; and Yorkshire.


Riley quits Carnival UK to spearhead Virgin Voyages’ global sales


Virgin Voyages has appointed Carnival UK’s director of trade engagement and onboard sales, Shane Riley, to head its international sales. Riley, who will be UK-based,


will join the cruise line on May 21 and report in to Stacy Shaw, vice-president of sales and business development. The new cruise line will start


operations in 2020 when the first of its 2,800-passenger new-build vessels (pictured) comes into service. Rosy Sims, a senior business manager at Carnival UK, will take over Riley’s responsibilities until a permanent replacement is found. Alex White, Carnival UK’s sales vice-president, thanked Riley for his “enormous contribution” to Carnival.


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