Flight Centre USA has appointed Emma Jupp as president of Liberty Travel and Margaret Mulholland as president of GOGO Vacations and Worldwide Traveler, announced Flight Centre USA President Dean Smith. These moves are part of a series of leadership changes at Flight Centre.
As Liberty Travel president Jupp will be responsible for further developing the 170-store retail travel network. Jupp has a background in travel retailing, having worked for Flight Centre USA’s parent company, Flight Centre Limited, in Canada and the United Kingdom. Most recently, she was responsible for developing Flight Centre USA’s air, tour and cruise product strategy.
Mulholland, one of Flight Centre Limited’s most successful wholesale leaders globally, previously led the U.S.-based Flight Centre Global Product (FCGP) North business and will now be responsible for growing both the GOGO Vacations and Worldwide Traveler brands.
John Beauvais, previously leader of the FCm Travel Solutions, Corporate Traveler and Stage & Screen brands, will take on an expanded role as leader of the overall USA corporate travel business. He will oversee the Travel Associates and CiEvents brands, in addition to FCm Travel Solutions, Corporate Traveler and Stage & Screen.
Billy McDonough will move from his current role as president of Liberty Travel to become FCm Travel Solutions and Travel Associates president. He will report to Beauvais and will focus on developing the rapidly expanding corporate travel management business, which is predominantly an amalgamation of the acquired Bannockburn, Garber and Liberty Corporate businesses.
Michele Kish, who has worked for Liberty and GOGO for 30 years, will move from her current role as GOGO Vacations president to become Flight Centre USA’s senior vice president of product and business development. She will be responsible for air, tour and cruise product. In addition, a new business for Flight Centre USA, Kish will be responsible for identifying and implementing new distribution channels. Flight Centre said this is an area with huge growth potential for the company who seeks to quickly expand their product distribution footprint.
Greg Kitchen, currently leading the Australia-based FCGP South business, will return to the USA as FCGP North leader and will focus on creating income opportunities, finding efficiencies and building on FCGP’s success.
The Flight Centre USA senior leadership team also includes Natalie Benson (chief financial officer), Sue Brennan (peopleworks – human resources), Leonard Donaldson (IT), Karen Kent (marketing) and Allen Silkin (e-commerce) all of whom will continue in their current roles.
Smith said the new team would focus on customer acquisition and retention, increasing sales conversion and improving margins. “During the past two years in particular, solid foundations have been established in corporate, retail, wholesale and e-commerce travel,” he said.“Our aim now is to build on these foundations and to guide Flight Centre USA and its businesses through a new era of growth in this market.”
Flight Centre USA employs 1,800 people throughout the U.S.country including the Liberty Travel retail network, wholesalers GOGO Vacations and Worldwide Traveler, corporate travel brands FCm Travel Solutions, Corporate Traveler, Stage & Screen, CiEvents and Travel Associates and a global product procurement business Flight Centre Global Product (FCGP) North. The company also operates a number of travel-related websites, including FlightCenter.com, DiscountCruises.com and HotCaribbeanDeals.com.
Together, these businesses are expected to generate total transaction value in the order of $1.8 Billion this year, Flight Centre says.
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