Southall Travel has appointed former Alitalia regional manager Gianni Leone to oversee business development for hotel and ground products.
The London-based travel agency group said Leone will have responsibility for commercial development, brand positioning and communication in his role as senior business development director.
Leone is an experience airline executive having spent nearly two decades at Italian flag carrier Alitalia, most recently as regional manager for western and central Europe and area manager for the UK, Ireland Nordic and the Baltics.
He has also held a number of senior roles in the hospitality and airline industry and since leaving Alitalia founded travel start-up representation company TripDigest and was managing director of business networking and conference firm Travel Hashtag.
He said: “I am honoured and truly excited to take up this role with a high-ranking business, which is one of the undisputed leaders in the market. Southall Travel has led the transformation of the UK travel industry during the last challenging twenty years.
“Contributing to the business development and change processes of an established and growing operator is a stimulating mission, across a number of areas including the definition and implementation of several projects that will support further growth.”
Jaymin Borkhatria, Southall Travel chief commercial officer, said: “We have a team of great talents with experience, enthusiasm and a broad range of skills in the tourism sector.
“Gianni’s new appointment fits with our corporate culture and our goal of providing the United Kingdom market with even more quality, a greater range of offers and products, efficiently delivered.”