Travelport Announces Heightened Investment in Switzerland
Download this page in PDF formatTravelport, the business services provider to the global travel industry, has today announced that it plans to expand its customer-facing team in Switzerland as part of a regional re-structure which also sees Juergen Witte, a seasoned travel industry professional and head of Travelport Germany, promoted into the expanded role of regional manager, Germany and Switzerland.
Witte’s appointment follows the decision of current country manager for Switzerland, Chris Dorner, to leave the business later in the year to pursue a career opportunity outside of Travelport.
Reporting into Olaf Gueldner, president and managing director of Travelport’s Europe and Brazil region, Witte will be charged with harnessing the specialist GDS expertise that exists in both the German and Swiss Travelport teams and ensuring this resource is accessible to agency customers in both countries. Gueldner confirmed that the structural change formed part of his ongoing strategy to adopt more of a “sub-region” approach within Europe given the number of shared opportunities that existed in neighbouring countries; earlier in the year, Gueldner formed a new UK, Ireland and France sub-region headed up by Jerome Moisan and also brought the leadership of the Portuguese and Spanish markets together under Antonio Loureiro. Travelport Europe already includes an Eastern European and Nordics sub-region, a Benelux sub-region and a Southern European sub-region (comprising Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Israel).
Witte, a seasoned travel industry professional with extensive international experience, joined Travelport’s GDS business from ebookers.com where he was managing director for Germany and Austria for four years. Prior to that, he held a number of senior travel industry roles in high profile organizations including TUI, Thomas Cook, American Express and Deutsches Reiseburo.
As part of the regional re-structure, Travelport is also heightening its investment in Switzerland and will not only replace Chris Dorner’s role but will also recruit an additional customer-facing role based in Zurich.
Olaf Gueldner, Travelport’s president and managing director, Europe and Brazil, commented:
“I’d like to extend my thanks to Chris for the great job he has done during his 10 years at Travelport in a number of senior roles and particularly for his five years as head of our Swiss operations. The investment we are making, not just to replace him, but also to expand our customer-facing team based in Zurich is testament to the significant achievements of Chris and his team over the last couple of years – despite a very challenging economic environment. We are determined to maintain this momentum and heighten our focus further still in this priority country.
“Meanwhile, I would also like to congratulate Juergen on his well-deserved promotion. In the relatively short time that Juergen has been with the company, he has demonstrated real leadership flair and a highly customer-centric approach. I know he will relish the challenges and opportunities that arise from his new expanded role.”
