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Comment: Stability in Whitehall, all change in travel

However you feel about the outcome of the general election, the Conservative victory brings certainty and a clarity that has been welcomed by many in the industry.

Fears of days, if not weeks, of wrangling, leading to a plunge in the pound and damage to demand, did not materialise. Instead, David Cameron has returned with a Cabinet full of ministers the industry is accustomed to dealing with.

Of course, you could view this in two ways.

Either we’re stuck with the same old ministers who have failed to deal swiftly with concerns over airport capacity, taxation and financial protection. Or at least we have continuity at Westminster and don’t have to go back to square one, outlining our arguments to a sea of new faces.

Coincidentally, no sooner is there some stability in Whitehall, than it is all change near the top of Tui Group.News of the departure of Johan Lundgren was not a total surprise given he stopped being heir apparent to chief executive Peter Long at Tui Travel following the group’s merger with Tui AG in December.

Meanwhile, rising star dnata brought clarity to the management structure of its growing empire, while confirming that trade favourites Gold Medal and Travel 2 will be retained.

However, there will undoubtedly be some synergies brought in across the two brands.

So just as Tory MPs were awaiting Cameron’s call last weekend to see whether they had a job in his new Cabinet, many people well known to the trade will be hoping for Botterill to ring them in the coming weeks.

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