Kate Kenward to leave AITO
AITO, The Specialist Travel Association, is looking for a new executive director following the resignation of Kate Kenward.
Kenward, who has been at the helm of the association for 10 years, will leave on March 7, 2019.
She said: "I have enjoyed my time at AITO, but 10 years is a long time to spend in a company these days. It’s time I moved on to new opportunities and challenges, using the experience, skills and network I have built up over the 30 years I have been in the travel industry.
"Apart from being a director on AITO’s Council, I have managed a lively and diverse membership of over 300 companies – tour operators, travel agents, affiliate tourist offices and business partners.
"It has been satisfying to watch AITO member businesses grow and prosper; many have been acquired or merged into larger organisations, which is an ongoing trend."
AITO’s two affiliate travel recruitment specialists, C&M Travel Recruitment and Jayne Peirce Recruitment, will lead the search for a replacement.
Kenward added: "The AITO role is a fascinating one and I’m proud to have played my part in creating an organisation that’s fit for purpose and ready to be handed on to the next baton bearer. I’m a firm believer in the specialist travel sector of the industry and feel that its future is both solid and bright."
AITO chairman Derek Moore said: "Kate has led AITO through thick and thin over the past 10 years, facing many of the challenges that the travel industry throws at all within it during that time. She will be sorely missed by her Board of Directors, by AITO members and by me."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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