FIT wholesaler Travel Bound has hired a new sales team
aimed at working closely with host agencies, large agencies and consortia.
“There was a gap between what we did at branch level and
what we did at the national level,” said James Phillips, president of Travel
Bound.
Phillips explained that Travel Bound will still have
sales managers aimed at working with individual agents and agencies, but is
also adding a team devoted to national accounts.
Leading that team is Thomas Ryder, the newly appointed
head of sales for Travel Bound. Previously,
Ryder was head of group sales for Kuoni Group Travel Experts and Travel Bound
Groups. Travel Bound is owned by Swiss Travel conglomerate Kuoni Group.
Additionally, Travel Bound has tapped Grant Hayes to be
the newly appointed national field sales manager. Hayes joins Travel Bound from
Allianz Global Assistance, where he was regional sales director. Also, Debbie
Donovan and Aimie Johnson have been named strategic sales managers, joining
Travel Bound from Kuoni Group Travel Experts, and Michele Keally, who joins
Travel Bound from Travelsavers.
Phillips was named president of Travel Bound in October
and is working to overhaul how the brand interacts with the trade and how it is
perceived. He is hoping the new sales team will be able to better meet the
needs of host agencies, agency owners and consortia by providing them with
useful sales data, as well as sales and marketing materials catered more
directly to their needs.
Travel Bound now has three distinct sales teams: a
national account management team, a stra-tegic account management team, and a
transformed field sales management team.
Travel Bound also has a new marketing team led by
marketing manager Carmen Cedeño.