Oliver Krieg has left GTA and joined Amigo Tours, which is based in Mexico sells product there and several other countries in Europe and South America. Krieg had been a part of GTA since 1999, serving lastly at area sourcing manager, destination services, Americas. He left GTA at one point in his tenure there to join AlliedTPro for five years, working as product manager, services. Evidently, Amigo Tours will utilize his sourcing contacts to build their American hotel inventory.
Jim Marini has been promoted to the position of vice president of sales, Amtrak Vacations/Yankee Holidays. He has been with YLG for five years, and previously served as director of sales for Amtrak Vacations/Yankee Holidays. Marini has more than 20 years of sales experience in the travel industry and at YLG, having previously overseen both national and international partnerships, as well as YLG’s outside sales team.
Emma Holliday has been appointed national account manager for Thomas Cook Airlines UK and Condor. Holliday, who has been working in the travel industry for 25 years, joins Thomas Cook Airlines from Leeds Bradford airport where she held the position of aviation sales manager. She will report to Sharon Confue, head of sales UK at Thomas Cook Airlines and Condor.
Joe Steel
has been named new chief executive for the UK-based live entertainment ticket distributor Encore. Steele is former chief executive of Bookable, and has experience in digital leadership roles at Expedia, TripAdvisor and Thomas Cook. Encore has partners in the U.S. such as NewYorkTheatreGuide.com.
In Brazil, the tour operator/travel agency Viajes Masters (Travel Masters) has hired André Rossi to start today as the new sales manager. With 32 years of experience in the area, the executive accumulates passages by operators such as CVC, Flytour Viagens and, more recently, Visual Tourism.
Patrice Geske has been promoted to the new position of director of marketing for the Globus family of brands in Canada. Geske, who has been with Globus for nearly nine years, works out of the company’s Canadian office in Toronto.
Eric Gordon has been named director of sales and marketing at Beyond Times Square Inc., which he already owns—and has owned since 2003. Before this venture, Gordon was president and owner at Park East, an African Safari company.
Graham Balmforth, national sales manager for Superbreak, is retiring from the tour and travel industry following a 41-year career. Balmforth has been with Superbreak since 1995.
Lee Travel Consulting (LTC), which is lead by managing director Chris Lee, has been appointed to represent Visit Orlando in the UK market. LTC will work as an extension of the Orlando-based team “to provide the UK travel industry with an even more personalized service and education,” said Elaine Blazys, vice president of travel industry sales for Visit Orlando.
In a realignment and consolidation of responsibilities at Thomas Cook Group in Germany, Paul Schwaiger, commercial director of sales, now also manages the tour operator sales of the Condor long-distance route, the distribution in the German market and the marketing of Thomas Cook Group Airlines. Michael Frahm, previously head of tour operator sales for the short- and medium-haul routes, will also be responsible for long-haul sales and thus cooperation with Condor customers in the tour operator and cruise sector.
