Effective 1 June, Philip is based at Travelstart Nigeria’s office in Lagos.
LAGOS – Travelstart announced that we have hired Philip Akesson as Country Manager for Nigeria, effective 1 June 2016. Philip will be based at Travelstart Nigeria’s office in Ikeja, Lagos taking over the reins from Andre Van Straaten who has held the dual positions of International Markets Project Manager and Country Manager. Under Philip’s leadership Andre will continue to manage strategic relationships with suppliers in West Africa.
Philip will be responsible for overseeing commercial and operational strategies for Travelstart Nigeria and spearheading initiatives to grow the brand across the region.
Travelstart CEO Stephan Ekbergh said: “Philip brings a wealth of experience and we are delighted to welcome him to the Travelstart Nigeria team. As an ecommerce business leader he will be an asset to Travelstart and will bring a depth of practical knowledge that our customers and partners will benefit from.”
A Stockholm School of Economics alumni, Philip was previously a founding member of Konga.com which in only a few years rapidly grew to become one of Africa’s largest online marketplaces. At Konga, Philip took on various roles ranging from operations, strategy, investor communications, business intelligence and strategic partnerships which equipped him with a goldmine of commercial and online expertise in the region.
Mr Akesson commented, “I am excited to start a new challenge within the Travelstart group and look forward to working with the team to expand its presence across verticals in the region, leveraging my experience in the local ecommerce space.”
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.
