Digital expert Mark O’Donoghue is joining Travel Counsellors in the newly-created position of chief operating officer.
He joins after transforming his previous company, AVADO Learning, into a leading provider of online learning, increasing sales fourfold in five years.
The new appointment follows Travel Counsellors secondary management buyout from private equity company Vitruvian Partners in 2018.
Chief executive Steve Byrne said: “We’re delighted to welcome Mark to Travel Counsellors to continue the growth and success of an innovative, digital community platform that supports and empowers entrepreneurial business owners to provide outstanding booking and travel experiences for their customers, with a focus on the human touch.
“Mark’s previous experience in leading the growth of digital learning and technology-focussed businesses, and passion for empowering talented people with the latest innovations in technology, offers the perfect blend as we continue to support travel professionals to re-define what personal service means in the travel industry, by showing the greatest levels of care to their customers every day.”
O’Donoghue added: “Travel Counsellors has developed a highly innovative and successful business model, built on the company’s passion for putting people first.
“The potential for adding to the brilliant human engagement that lies at the heart of the Travel Counsellors model with a wider set of digital platform functions, is incredibly exciting.
“I’m looking forward to working with the driven, ambitious support and tech teams to enable our Travel Counsellor business owners to be the very best they can be, through the continued development and improvement of the company’s technology platform, including the application of data science and enhanced customer insights to further support the growth of their businesses.”
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