Ian Blackie, new Sales Director for the UK market.
HRS has this month made two senior appointments to bolster its management team in the UK.
Andy Besent joins the HRS London office as Managing Director (UK and Ireland) and will head the team and activities of HRS in the market. As former Sales Director at Travelodge and with previous senior sales roles at InterContinental Hotels Groups and Guoman & Thistle Hotels, Andy Besent brings more than 20 years of experience in sales and a proven track record in the hospitality industry into the new role.
Andy joins HRS as Jon West, moves to The Lido Group as Chief Commercial Officer in Sydney, Australia, where he will share his wealth of HRS expertise with the partnership in order to grow closer together. This follows HRS’ announcement in May 2016 that it had invested in the Australian-based company The Lido Group through a strategic partnership.
Andy is joined by Ian Blackie, who has been appointed as the new Sales Director for the UK market. Prior to 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.
Talking about his new appointment, Andy commented: “HRS has a great track record in the industry and keeps innovating to bring new solutions to the travel management. I am excited to be joining the company and looking forward to carrying on the great work that has been achieved to date, along with creating new opportunities to continue the growth path of HRS in the UK.”
“We are thrilled to welcome Andy and Ian to our team and look forward to using the breadth and depth of their expertise to reach a new level in sales excellence in our UK activities. Both are a great fit for their new roles and bring a fresh perspective that will help us to accelerate our strategy,” said Flavio Ghiringhelli, Vice President of Corporate Solutions of South West & Eastern Europe.
“We’d also like to acknowledge and thank Jon West for his years of service, during which time he has played a significant part in the development of our London office. 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.”
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
