Travelopia has announced a senior management restructure “designed to support the next phase of the company’s growth strategy”, according to its new chief executive.
The shake-up sees the departure of Mathew Prior, managing director tailor-made and marine, a changed role for Martin Froggatt, managing director of expeditions and events, and the creation of two new positions that will be filled by people from outside the travel industry.
Chief executive Andy Duncan said: “We have announced some key senior appointments today which give us a great blend of consistency and industry expertise, with some fresh thinking.”
Duncan, the former boss of Camelot UK, who was appointed by Travelopia’s private equity owners KKR in February this year to succeed Will Waggott, added: “It’s essentially a senior level reorganisation, primarily to support the new strategy that I’m putting together. This new direction will help the business move forward and drive growth.”
Froggatt will retain responsibility for all his sports events, adventure and US tour operating businesses, but will relinquish responsibility for polar expedition brand Quark and private jet holiday operator TCS to Duncan.
In addition, Froggatt will become chief sales officer for the group, looking at “sales expertise and new sales opportunities”, Duncan said.
Meanwhile, two new roles are being created. Matt Hill will join Travelopia as chief operating officer. Hill was previously president of Kraft Heinz in the UK, then Europe, and, prior to that, held senior positions at Unilever. Duncan said Hill’s remit would be to work across the whole business to drive growth.
Duncan’s former colleague, Sally Cowdry, who was the sales, marketing and commercial director at Camelot, and before that marketing director of the O2, will join Travelopia in a new combined role.
She will be both chief customer officer for the group and managing director of the Tailormade division, which includes Hayes & Jarvis, Sovereign and Citalia.
Cowdry, who is said to have a strong digital background, previously worked in travel for Stena Line and Heathrow Express.
Duncan said Cowdry would be tasked with employing “group-wide expertise in marketing, brand, customer acquisition, and sharing and building best practice”.
Commenting on Prior, who will leave Travelopia at the end of June, Duncan said his departure was in no shape or form a reflection of his performance.
“Mathew is credited with doing a really great job at SHG and then Travelopia. He was pivotal in supporting Will and Martin in taking Travelopia out of Tui and getting it settled into KKR.
“But we both concluded that, as the business now moves into its next phase, it was time for him to move on and do something else.”
Prior was formerly managing director of Crystal Ski, which was the one brand within the Specialist Holidays Group which remained with Tui when Travelopia was sold to KKR in 2017 for £325 million.
Travelopia has 53 brands in its portfolio and carries around 800,000 customers a year. Its brands include Hayes & Jarvis, Jetsave, Citalia and Sunsail.
The tailor-made division consists of ten brands specialising in worldwide multi-centre holidays, short haul luxury beach breaks and skiing trips.
The marine division specialises in sailing and river and canal boating, and includes operators The Moorings, Sunsail and Le Boat.
In February, the group announced it would be selling its 10 education brands in the spring to focus on its experiential tour operator businesses.