New UK managing director for HRS
HRS has appointed Andy Besent as managing director UK, based at its London office.
He was formerly sales director at Travelodge and held previous senior sales roles at InterContinental Hotels Groups and Guoman & Thistle Hotels.
He replaces Jon West, who moves to Sydney to become chief commercial officer of The Lido Group.
In May of this year, HRS invested in Australian-based The Lido Group through a strategic partnership.
Besent is joined by Ian Blackie, who has been appointed as sales director for the UK market.
Before joining HRS, Ian was previously at Qatar Airways, where he was manager, global corporate sales.
Previous positions include leading sales positions at Virgin Atlantic Airways, Etihad Airways, Swiss International Air Lines and American Airlines.
Flavio Ghiringhelli, HRS vice president of corporate solutions of South West & Eastern Europe, thanked West for his years of service.
"We are pleased that he will maintain an ongoing relationship with the group going forward and see great opportunity to grow and expand our service to our customers in Australia."
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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