Michael Egan, chairman and founder of
Certified Vacations, which operates the Delta and Continental
vacation packaging operations as well as its own brand, Future
Vacations, appointed himself CEO and restructured the management of
the company.
Celeste Allen, who
has overseen the operation for the last 10 years as president and
CEO, will continue working for Egan in a consulting role for an
indefinite period.
Egan will take a
much more active role in the operation than he has in over a
decade, Allen told TravelWeekly.com.
Mike brings a
wealth of industry knowledge and marketing background, Allen said.
The fresh ideas and new perspectives will be good for
Certified.
According to Egan,
investments in technology will play a big role in the companys
future. Were also planning a big value-added idea, he
said.
Egan also brought
retail travel entrepreneur Herb Edelberg on board as COO; Edelberg
will run the day-to-day operation.
The new COO brings
to the table a strong travel background. He founded Direct Travel,
a New York-based travel management firm, in 1973 and grew it to a
$300 million-a-year business before selling it in 1999.
Egan in the 1970s
launched Alamo Rent a Car, which pioneered unlimited mileage and
focused on leisure travelers with off-airport rental plazas. He
began developing vacation packaging as part of the Alamo operation,
then founded Certified Vacations in 1980 when he convinced Delta
that he could operate its vacation packaging on an outsourcing
model more effectively than the airline could do it
in-house.
Egan, along with
Bill La Macchia of the Mark Travel Corp., was among the first to
employ the model of outsourced, branded vacation packaging
operations, which was adopted widely by the airlines and spread
into hotels and other industry segments.
To
contact reporter David Cogswell, send e-mail to [email protected].