In the news: Skyscanner’s hunt for “day” CEO, two new partners for Travelport, Amadeus’ acquisition of Hotel SystemsPro, an additional Pullman for Kuala Lumpur
Skyscanner’s looking for suitable candidate to replace CEO … just for the day
Who wants to walk in Gareth William’s shoes for a day? (Image credit: Skyscanner)
August marks a milestone for global travel search engine, Skyscanner, as it touched the 40 million mark in the number of people across the world using its site and apps.
Skyscanner said while the success of the company was the result of collaboration by its 600-strong “it would not have been possible without the initial vision and tenacity of founder and CEO Gareth Williams.”
To “reward” him Skyscanner is forcing Williams to take a well-earned break as he does not take many holidays, and his staff think he deserves one. They want him to take a day off with no emails, no phone calls, just a chance to kick back, relax and celebrate reaching the big 4-0.
And they will find a replacement to do his job … just for the day.
That’s where you come in. For just one day you will become Skyscanner’s boss while Williams takes it easy. You get to wear the (metaphorical) CEO hat, and even be paid £2,500 to do it.
As the (very) temporary CEO you are required to fulfil the following duties:
- Tour the Edinburgh head office
- Get acquainted with the various teams
- Provide insight into Skyscanner’s flights, hotels and car hire products
- Test changes to the site and apps
- Interviews by the media
- Review the company’s strategy
- Draw weird doodles
Skyscanner spokesperson, Mary Porter, said: “At Skyscanner we always say that our customers are at the heart of our business and this is our chance to prove it by bringing in one of them to take over as boss, providing us with the ultimate in user feedback. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”
The job is open to anyone who is eligible to work in the UK, regardless of experience – the only pre-requisite being a passion for travel.
So who wants to be the CEO to run the billion-dollar company for a day? Apply here if you want to walk in Gareth Williams’ shoes, even if it is for just 24 hours.
Deadline for application is 23:59 hrs, 24 August 2015.
Watch this space for the announcement of the “new” Skyscanner CEO.
Amadeus expands hospitality presence with acquisition of Hotel SystemsPro
Amadeus boosts hospitality presence with purchase of Hotel SystemsPro. (Image credit: Looper_cro/iStock)
Amadeus is boosting its sales and catering offering to the hotel industry with the purchase of Hotel SystemsPro.
The acquisition is made by Newmarket, an Amadeus company. However, no details of the deal were disclosed.
Hotel SystemsPro is a US-based provider of sales, catering and maintenance software to the hotel and hospitality industry.
The acquisition will see Hotel SystemsPro integrated into Newmarket, and will expand the latter’s existing market reach and expand its overall product offering.
Jeff Hiscox, CEO of Newmarket, said: “The combined hotel sales and catering space offers immense potential to drive increased value to our customers. Hotel SystemsPro’s suite of products fits perfectly with our overall sales and catering solution set, which is also an important component of our broader strategic end-to-end IT vision for hotels.”
Virgin Australia, Radius Travel get on board Travelport
Two new partners for Travelport
Travelport has gained two new partners with recent signing of agreements with Virgin Australia and Radius Travel.
The agreement with Virgin Australia is for global distribution with its enhanced Rich Content and Branding solution.
With this solution the airline can use more sophisticated retailing techniques to drive sales of core fares, as well as ancillary products and optional services such as seats with extra legroom and lounge passes.
Virgin Australia is preparing to launch new Business Class suites on its A330 aircraft, which fly between Perth and the east coast of Australia, and its B777 aircraft, which service the Australia to Los Angeles and Abu Dhabi route.
The Premium Economy cabin on the airline’s B777 aircraft will also undergo a major redesign, providing more legroom than any other Australian airline and a new Premium Larder.
Travelport’s Rich Content and Branding solution will enable Virgin Australia to communicate the features of these new products and services to all Travelport-connected agencies globally.
Travelport’s travel commerce deal with Radius Travel, a leading global travel management company, will see the two companies working together to accelerate mutual sales growth and deliver innovative solutions for the global corporate travel market.
As part of the new agreement the 70 members of Radius Travel will have access to Travelport’s travel commerce solutions including Travelport Smartpoint, Travelport Rich Content and Branding, and Universal API.
Radius members will also be able to utilise Travelport Booking Feed, a corporate data source management solution that analyses travel patterns and travel policy compliance, assist in vendor negotiations, and make business operations and budgeting more efficient; eNett Virtual Account Numbers (VANs), Travelport’s automated electronic payment solution; and its hotel content with over 650 properties.
A new Pullman for AccorHotels in Kuala Lumpur
A new Pullman in Kuala Lumpur
AccorHotels expanded its portfolio in Malaysia with a fourth Pullman in the country when it took over management of the former Prince Hotel & Residences Kuala Lumpur on August 1.
Formerly the Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur, the new Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre Hotel & Residences has 445 rooms and 157 serviced apartments. It is undergoing a two-year refurbishment programme to bring it up to Pullman standards, with the hotel remaining open throughout.
The Pullman brand was launched in 2008. The latest addition in Kuala Lumpur makes it the 56th Pullman in Asia Pacific. The hotel group aims to increase the number to 100 by the end of the year. In Asia Pacific alone, Pullman has over 40 hotels in the pipeline over the next few years.
Other hotels that have rebranded to Pullman in recent months included The Park Lane Hong Kong and the former Hilton on the Park in Melbourne, Australia.
• Featured image credit: Skyscanner
