Barrhead Travel, Red Sea Holidays, Ramble Worldwide: this week's travel trade people moves

Red Sea Holidays has appointed experienced travel agent Amber Eastwood as business development executive for the north, effective immediately. The operator said Eastwood will be the “face of Red Sea Holidays” in the north and will regularly visit travel agencies in the region as well as host training sessions and attend local trade events. Prior to joining Red Sea Holidays, she worked at Thomas Cook, Hays Travel, Barrhead Travel and most recently as a homeworker for Cruise118. 

Ramble Worldwide has appointed Kelly Maher to a newly created head of marketing role, with responsibility for both direct and trade communications. Maher brings more than 15 years' marketing experience to her new role with Ramble from spells with British Airways, Teletext Holidays and Your Golf Travel. One of Maher's first aims will be to recruit a trade partnerships manager to "further strengthen ongoing work to re-engage trade partners". Speaking to TTG earlier this year, Ramble's new managing director Wayne Perks said working with agents "represented a huge opportunity" for the specialist. Maher said she was delighted to be joining a company with "rich heritage and a bright future". Perks added Maher joined at a "pivotal moment" in the brand's evolution.

Cheshire-based Inspire Europe has announced its managing director Lisa Henning has been promoted to chief executive following a corporate restructure. The company’s two core businesses – Inspire Europe and Inspire GBR – will now operate as “independent entities” under separate leadership teams. Henning and chief financial officer Richard Buxton have been handed new roles as a result. Buxton is now finance director at Inspire Europe. Henning explained: "During recent months the board has been evaluating its overall business strategy. We concluded that running the businesses independently, while maintaining certain shared strategic resources, would best serve each entity's future, ensuring continued growth and long-term sustainability." 

Kerzner International has announced three leadership appointments as part of a brand management structure. Mark Kirby (top left) will take up the role of One&Only president on 6 January. Kirby, who has previously held the role chief operating officer and head of hospitality at Emaar Hospitality Group, brings more than 25 years’ leadership experience to the position. Paul Baker (right) will spearhead the Atlantis Resorts brand following his move to Kerzner in August. Kerzner said Baker brings “an abundance of knowledge and experience to Atlantis”.  Meanwhile, Kerzner International’s global vice-president of operations, Mattheos Georgiou, has been promoted to senior vice-president, SIRO and Rare Finds. Kerzner said under Georgiou’s guidance, both brands will continue to expand their global footprint while maintaining their unique identities. 

Atlas Ocean Voyages president and chief executive James Rodriguez has decided to remain in his role. In October, the luxury expedition line announced Rodriguez would leave the line at the end of the year, but this month he decided to stay on. “Leading this exceptional group of professionals has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my career, and I look forward to driving our continued success together,” he said. Meanwhile, Mário Ferreira, chair of Atlas' parent Mystic Invest Holding, said: “The expedition cruise market has experienced explosive growth over the past two years and Atlas Ocean Voyages is well-positioned for 2025, with 70% of inventory already sold. James Rodriguez has been instrumental in the success of Atlas Ocean Voyages and is the proven leader to guide its future.”

Gloria Guevara Manzo, former president of the World Travel & Tourism Council, has officially been nominated by the Mexican government as a candidate to become the next Secretary-General of UN Tourism. UN Tourism is a specialised agency of the United Nations that focuses on promoting responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism. It is common UN protocol for the role of secretary-general to be rotated to a different continent member at each election. Guevara was previously minister for tourism for Mexico and has just completed her term as senior special advisor to the minister of tourism in Saudi Arabia. 

On the Beach Group has appointed Victoria Self, managing director of player experience at Ladbrokes and Coral parent Entain Ltd, to its board. Self, who is a previous comparethemarket.com product chief and brings experience from stints with major consumer brands such as Marks and Spencer, Currys, Carphone Warehouse, Urban Outfitters and Mothercare, will take up her new independent non-executive director role with the OTA group on 3 February 2025 – her first such role. David Kelly, meanwhile, will stand down from the On the Beach Group board on 10 January following a nine-year tenure as a non-executive director. The group said it wanted to thank Kelly for his "significant contribution" to the business over nearly a decade, adding Self would bring "invaluable" experience from senior management posts "at some of the UK's leading digital and consumer businesses".