INTERNATIONAL Life Leisure Group is poised for a major
expansion programme following the appointment of former Thomson acting chief
executive Roger Burnell to its board.
Burnell – who is now chairman of on-line agent The
First Resort – will initially work one day a month for the villa specialist as
non-executive chairman. He will oversee the development of new programmes and a
bookable trade website. International Life’s programmes include French Life,
Italian Life and European Life.
Burnell said: “I’ll have a strategic role, but it’s no
secret that I’ll be looking at how to move the business forward. The operator
already has a website but its close relationship with the trade means we’ll be
trying to tie this in with agents.”
It’s believed the operator wants to move away from
viewdata to offer its product via a trade-only website accessible by password
and will be drawing on Burnell’s Internet experience to develop the system.