Sports travel operator MSG Tours has recruited Louise Pigot to fill the newly created role head of customer experience.
The company is an official travel agent for next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
Pigot has worked on previous Rugby World Cups in 2015 and 2019, as well as British and Irish Lions tours in 2013 in Australia and New Zealand in 2017.
She began her career in travel with Virgin and Abercrombie & Kent, then moved to sports travel in 2011 to work on the official travel programmes for the Mike Burton Group.
She worked for Inside Asia, heading its 2019 Rugby World Cup programme which saw 3,000 clients travelling from the UK to Japan.
Kevin Smith, commercial director, said: “We identified that customer experience was the single most important element of our business moving forward and have created this new role to encompass both the post-sale experience as well as the operational delivery of our programmes.
“Both Mark Gardner, our MD, and I knew Louise well and she was the clear and obvious choice.”
Pigot added: “To be back in sport and working in an official capacity on Rugby World Cup 2023 is a dream for me. I am passionate about customer service and exceptional operational delivery, so this is the perfect role for me.”
She will be responsible for setting up a new satellite office space in Gloucestershire and will begin recruiting her team ahead of a busy 2023.
Established in 2015 by Gardner, the operator has offices in Wales, Derby and Bayonne. In September 2020 it was appointed as an Official Travel Agent (OTA) by World Rugby for Rugby World Cup 2023 France.
It operates playing tours for school and club groups, as well as supporter tours to major global sporting events.
Pictured from left: Kevin Smith, Louise Pigot and Mark Gardner.