Martin Froggatt, group chief sales officer and managing director adventures and events at Travelopia, is to leave the business.
His departure comes nearly two years after the company’s sell-off by Tui to private equity firm KKR, and its rebrand from Specialist Holidays Group (SHG) to Travelopia.
From June 1, Sam Seward will join the Travelopia executive leadership team reporting directly to chief executive Andy Duncan as managing director, adventure.
Seward will continue to lead the Exodus business while Richard Hanson, Jan de Ridder, and Van Perry, who look after Trek America, Sawadee and Zegrahm and International Expeditions respectively, will report to Seward as part of the wider Adventures portfolio.
Chief customer officer Sally Cowdry, who is also managing director of Travelopia’s tailormade division including Hayes & Jarvis, Citalia and Sovereign, is to take on much of Froggatt’s chief sales officer responsibilities in addition to her current role.
It is understood Froggatt will be returning to travel in another role after leaving his post at the end of May, but will spend a year before that on gardening leave.
Froggatt started his career in travel with Walt Disney Parks & Resorts in 1995 before joining First Choice Holidays in 2000, where he was sales director for six years.
Following First Choice’s merger with Tui, Froggatt then ran Europe Express for almost five years, before becoming managing director of Tui’s North American Specialist and Activities Division, looking after brands including TCS and Quark Expeditions.
He returned to the UK to become managing director of Tui’s events, education and expedition businesses, alongside Mathew Prior who looked after the tailormade and ski businesses.
The pair supported former Tui group chief finance officer Will Waggott as he prepared SHG for sale, and then helped run Travelopia with Waggott as its chief executive until his departure in March 2018.
Travelopia has since been run by former Camelot CEO Andy Duncan as CEO, while Waggott was announced as chief of tour operating at Thomas Cook in March 2019.
Duncan said: “Martin has made a huge contribution during his tenure, both in the UK and USA. He was critical to the turnarounds in both the education and events portfolios, returning them to profitability before the sale from Tui Travel, and was also instrumental in delivering the platform which has enabled our Expedition business to grow consistently and profitably over the last eight years.
“Martin’s experience and leadership have helped us create a strong and ambitious business in particular over the last 12 months, helping us prepare a number of businesses for sale and establishing a solid sales framework across the group.
“Alongside this knowledge and experience, Martin’s warmth and personality will be missed by me and all the executive leadership team, and by many across the business who know and have worked with him.”
On the extra responsibilities for Seward and Cowdry, he added: “Sam has been a strong MD for us at Exodus for a long time now, and its a great promotion and opportunity for him to step up and drive our international business forward.
“Sally has been MD of our tailormade business, and part of our executive leadership team, and I’m confident she will continue to impress with the added responsibilities.”
Froggatt was unavailable for comment.