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Panellists, from left: Gunjan Verma, The Travel Corporation; Grant Duncan, SpencerStuart; Cressida Sergeant, Traveltek; Chris Lee, Barclays; and Andy Washington, Culture Trip


Travel praised for being a well spring of digital talent


Barclays hosted a special Travolution Business Breakfast focusing on leadership in the digital age during this month’s WTM. Lee Hayhurst reports


Travel is one of the world’s top-three sectors for digital talent due to the impact of technology and the internet, a Travolution Business Breakfast was told this month.


Senior travel figures discussed


how management and leadership roles have changed as businesses have faced unprecedented transformation in the digital age. Grant Duncan, a consultant at


global headhunting and leadership consultant SpencerStuart, one of the event’s sponsors, said: “When we talk to clients


72travelweekly.co.uk29 November 2018


about where to get the talent from, particularly talent that understands digitalisation but also knows how to operate in a traditional environment, we say go to financial services, consumer retail and travel and leisure. “That’s the well spring where


a lot of this great talent can be found. What’s interesting is these are all sectors that were very traditional and then new players started to come in and that set the ball rolling. “There’s a huge amount of publicity and excitement


surrounding these new travel brands [like Uber and Airbnb] emerging in the consumer domain, which raises the ante for the category as a whole.” Duncan said London remains


one of the key hubs for digital talent globally although strongholds like Silicon Valley in the US remain the “heartland”. “The problem is the talent likes


it there. Why would you leave California? But the UK is that next stopping off point for that wave of talent,” he said. However, Duncan added: “One


of the challenges, and this is particularly true in the UK, is there is definitely the need to be at the heart of things, so in the hub of a


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PICTURES: SARAH LUCY BROWN


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