Lusso recruits Travelopia's Kevin Gaddes for new trade role
Travelopia’s trade partnerships manager Kevin Gaddes will move to luxury trade-only tour operator Lusso next month and take up the newly created role of national sales manager.
Gaddes will work alongside Lusso sales director Gareth Hulmston who has been at the trade-only tour operator since 2009 when he joined from Carrier.
Speaking exclusively to TTG, Lusso managing director James Weaver revealed plans to grow annual sales from £25 million to £30 million and expand the trade sales team further in the coming months with Gaddes at the company.
Weaver said: “We’re very excited to get Kev on board. Naturally he will bring new agents to the table who did not know Lusso before. He will be another contact point for agents.”
When asked how long Lusso had been trying to fill its new national sales manager position, Weaver said: “It has been on our minds for around 12 months. It was all about keeping our ear to the ground. [The successful candidate] had to fit our culture.
“We used a recruitment firm to help us and Kev was one of the shortlisted candidates. “This appointment was not a knee-jerk reaction. A lot of the agents that we know speak very highly of Kev.”
Since leaving Thomas Cook after its collapse in 2019, Gaddes has worked for Travelopia’s Tailormade Travel brands Citalia, American Holidays and Sovereign Luxury Travel.
Weaver stressed that Hulmston’s sales director role won’t change despite Gaddes coming into the business.
“We recognise what Gareth has achieved in the past 14 years,” explained Weaver. “He has covered an amazing amount of ground for us. We’ve built back stronger after the pandemic.”
Weaver pledged to expand the on-the-road trade sales team soon, saying: “As we continue to grow, we will look to add people.”
Lusso currently employs 44 staff – the highest number it has ever had.
Lusso which built its reputation around being a long-haul tour operator offering trips to the Caribbean, North America and Asia has recently added tours to Europe and Africa.
“Europe was a big piece of the jigsaw that was missing,” said Weaver. “So we added that in after the pandemic and then Africa. Now is the right time to bring in Kev to support Gareth and manage our agent relationships.”
Travelopia confirmed Gaddes is leaving the company next month. “After five years as trade partnerships manager at Travelopia, Kevin Gaddes will be leaving the business in July to take on a new role,” a company spokesperson said.
“The team at Travelopia thank him for his great work on Travelopia’s Tailormade Travel brands Citalia, American Holidays and Sovereign Luxury Travel, and wish him all the best in his new role.”
Gaddes told TTG: “I know I leave with the business in great shape and wish everyone involved with Travelopia the greatest success, be it our valued trade partners, internal teams or external partners.
"It’s an exciting time at Lusso and I am thrilled to become part of the family. I am looking forward to working with James, Mark [Hibbert, operations director] and Gareth and their amazing teams.
"I am excited to be working with our trade partners and helping them grow their business and take it from strength to strength with an award-winning, leading luxury travel brand.”
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