Barrhead parent appoints president
J.D. O’Hara has been named as president of Travel Leaders Group, the parent company of Barrhead Travel, Colletts Travel and other travel brands.
The group said the newly-created role will see O’Hara oversee and work closely with the various Travel Leaders Group brand presidents to address ‘specific needs of each distinct division’ as the company ’embarks on further strategic growth initiatives’.
He will report to Travel Leaders Group CEO Ninan Chacko, CTC.
O’Hara joins from Certares Management, LLC, where he served as senior partner. He was also part of the original management buyout of Carlson Leisure Group from Carlson Companies in January 2008.
In his various operating roles within Travel Leaders Group and as a member of the company’s Board of Directors while at Certares, O’Hara has had direct oversight of Travel Leaders Group’s acquisitions of Tzell Travel Group, Nexion Travel Group, Vacation.com, Protravel International, Andrew Harper Travel, CruCon Cruise Outlet, as well as its recent merger with Altour.
"J.D. is a savvy and analytical business leader with a long track record of advocating for travel advisors," said Chacko.
"In the coming year, he will be integral to our plans as we focus on enhancing our standing as the leader in premium travel service, as well as enriching our support and service to our advisors and agency community."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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