Dertour UK names Benjamin Boesch as joint chief executive

Dertour UK has named Benjamin Boesch as joint chief executive to work alongside Francis Torrilla in leading the region’s 11 specialist businesses. 

 

Boesch, who currently works within the Dertour Group overseeing strategy and specialist businesses, will take up his new position in January.

 

It comes as Dertour UK continues its efforts to “integrate the Hotelplan and Dertour UK organisations” following the recent acquisition of the former.

 

It is anticipated that the joint leadership structure will remain in place for a year, the company said, with Torrilla intending to retire towards the end of 2026.

 

Dertour International chief executive Leif Vase Larsen said: “I’m very happy to welcome Ben to his new role; together with Francis we have a dynamic blend of outstanding experience and entrepreneurial spirit to lead the UK businesses into the future.

 

“Ben and Francis already work well together, so it’s a great partnership which will give our team in the UK the reassurance of strong leadership with different responsibilities yet a united vision for success.”   

 

Boesch said: “I’m very much looking forward to joining the Dertour UK group and leading the business alongside Francis, someone I know and respect enormously.

 

“We have an exciting future ahead of us and I know already there is a lot of talent in the team and I’m very excited about what we can achieve together.

 

“I love travel in all its forms, from discovering new destinations to deeply understanding the customer journey.

 

“We’ve got some of the most respected specialist brands in the market within our UK group all with huge potential and I can’t wait to get started.”    

 

Torrilla, who was promoted after the acquisition of Hotelplan, said he looked forward to working closely with Boesch to take the UK group “to the next level”.

 

He added: “We’ve already set off on our journey in building a fantastic team with plenty of shared learning that we are already putting into practice across the whole group.”

 

Boesch, who joined Dertour Group in 2023, has spent the past two years running the group’s strategic agenda as well as “driving performance improvement, international expansion and stronger commercial outcomes”, Dertour UK said.

 

Prior to joining Dertour Group, he was chief digital officer at visa services provider VFS Global. Before that, he held leadership roles at Kuoni Group across strategy and commercial development.