Thomas Cook drafts in digital 'gurus' to help turnaround

Thomas Cook Group has set up a special taskforce to help drive its online development and advise it on digital trends.

The 12-strong team, called the Digital Advisory Board (DAB), is made up of a mixture of internal people and 'gurus' from the digital world.

DAB will be chaired jointly by Harriet Green, Group CEO and John Straw.

According to Thomas Cook, Straw is an "acclaimed Search Engine marketer and digital marketing entrepreneur with a tradition of developing innovative products and profitably selling them to global technology giants that include Microsoft".

"A vital element in our transformation is the development and implementation of our digital strategy," said Green.

The twelve members of the DAB are:

Simon Darling, webProduct expert and CEO at Jack & Anna Group and founder of Quiet Riots

Tom Wood, user experience 'guru', partner at Foolproof

Laurence John, venture capitalist, founder and CEO at Project_Elpful

Marco Ryan, ecommerce guru, partner/managing director for Accenture Interactive

Emre Berkin, non-executive director and former Microsoft chairman Middle East and Africa and vice-president Europe.

Harriet Green, Group CEO

Peter Fankhauser, CEO Continental Europe and UK

Michael Tenzer, CEO Continental Europe

Mike Hoban, sales marketing and eCommerce director