Former Thomas Cook national sales manager Kevin Gaddes will join Travelopia on Monday (September 30) in the newly created role of trade partnerships manager for its tailor-made brands.
News of his appointment follows the collapse of Thomas Cook on Monday.
Reporting to head of trade partnerships Simon Garrido, Gaddes will work with Hayes & Jarvis, Citalia, Sovereign Luxury Travel, Austravel and American Holidays.
After starting his career overseas with Thomas Cook, Gaddes progressed through several roles to reach the trade partnerships team.
A statement from Travelopia said: “He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience from a retail travel agency perspective and will be working alongside current account manager Amy Power in supporting head office and customer-facing agents nationwide.
“Kevin will help deliver the trade partnerships strategy, focused around offering exceptional worldwide multi-centre holidays and ensuring that Travelopia’s agent partners have all the tools to be able to promote these effectively.”
Garrido said: “We have been discussing opportunities for a while and have now been able to move this forward following the sad events at the start of this week.
“Kevin is well-known and respected, and brings with him the expertise that will enable us to further develop our relationships with the trade.”
Gaddes added: “It’s great to be joining the Travelopia team and helping to drive engagement with both new and existing trade partners.
“Whilst the events on Monday were incredibly sad for me personally and the industry more widely, I am pleased that I can move onto the next chapter within the industry and join a business with such great ambition.”