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Travel Leaders Group is now Internova Travel Group.
This is the latest step in the rollout of a strategic reorganization by the largest travel agency umbrella group in the U.S. Approximately one-third of all U.S. travel advisors belong to one of its sub-brands, and it has in recent years expanded abroad.
The rechristening of the entire organization is part of an ongoing process to put brands with similar portfolios into divisions, each with a specific area of specialization, said CEO J.D. O’Hara.
By changing the parent company to Internova, any confusion in the marketplace about what “Travel Leaders” references will be lessened, O’Hara said.
But the name Travel Leaders Group will nonetheless survive as the division for the franchise, consortia and host agency operations that are predominantly focused on leisure sales and will include the brands Travel Leaders Network, Nexion Travel Group, Barrhead Travel, Roadtrips, Travel Leaders Vacation Center, CruCon Cruise Outlet and Cruise Specialists. John Lovell will be president.
Protravel International, Tzell Travel Group, Andrew Harper Travel and R. Crusoe & Son will combine as part of a new, yet-to-be-named home for high-touch, independent advisors. Angie Licea, previously head of strategic partnerships at Travel Leaders Group, will serve as president.
The Worldwide and the Select Hotels & Resorts platform for luxury and boutique hotels will now fall into the technology-focused Bonotel Exclusive Travel fold, providing expanded access to both hotel partners and additional inventory to advisors. Faisal Sublaban will continue as president & CEO.
Corporate Travel Services will stay focused on the Latin American market under current president Jose Luis Castro, and the company’s global specialty meetings and incentive business will consolidate in the Your Event Solutions division, led by current CEO Sue Gill.
The organization also recently combined two corporate travel brands, Altour and Travel Leaders Corporate, under the Altour name. Other agencies with a primary focus on corporate travel management will also fall into that group, as will data, insights and strategic incentive management. It will be led by Altour founder Alexandre Chemla, who will retain his CEO title.
The result, O’Hara said, will be “a more cohesive and focused structure” that will provide “an optimal home for every advisor, agency and traveler, while delivering the greatest value to our supplier partners.”
The Covid-19 crisis accelerated an integration plan that had been under consideration for some time, he added. The goal of the realignment was to “accelerate” the company’s recovery, O’Hara said, and “when travel begins to rebound, we will be in the strongest position ever to hit the ground running.”
Source: travelweekly.com