Diederich to head Best of Morocco
Ex-Laskarina Holidays managing director Steve Diederich is to lead the growth of Best of Morocco under the new ownership of Travelzest.
Travelzest bought Best of Morocco last week from owner Chris Lawrence for £2.7 million. Lawrence is to stay on as a consultant for the next year.
Diederich started his travel industry career as an overseas manager for ILG in 1982, joined Avro in 1994 before moving to Kuoni as head of sales in 1995. After a spell at Air Miles as head of E-miles he started his own business and marketing consultancy before joining Greek specialist Laskarina in 2004.
He said: “This investment by Travelzest means that we can take the development of Best of Morocco to its next stage.
“The acquisition and planned development of Best of Morocco exemplifies the Travelzest commitment to develop niche travel companies. We will be emphasising the strength of our market position through exceptional customer service, outstanding passion for the business combined with extraordinary detailed product and destination knowledge.
“We are very fortunate to have a fantastic asset in the staff at Best of Morocco and I am looking forward to working with such a great team.”
All the staff are planned to remain within the business in their existing roles.
Travelzest chief executive Chris Mottershead said: “Customers in the future will only need tour operators who can provide the expertise necessary to create a holiday to a destination which the customer is unfamiliar with, or requires a high level of service.
“The advent of DIY packaging and the internet exposes those companies which haven’t moved with the times and aren’t adding value for the customer. Our strategy is to allow these businesses of the future to develop and grow and meet these customer demands.”
He added: “We are in discussion with several other businesses which are in niche areas of the travel industry.”
Travelzest listed on AIM in October and intends to make four to five acquisitions a year.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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