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Advantage may ditch role of CEO
Advantage may beef up the role of its chairman following the departure of chief executive John McEwan, who is retiring.
Sales and marketing director Colin O’Neill said last week that the association was in no hurry to appoint a new chief executive and he revealed at its conference in Malaga this week that it may scrap the position altogether.
"You don’t necessarily need a figurehead," said O’Neill. "We will take the next six months to consider our requirements and the needs of the members."
The existing management team of O’Neill, leisure director Julia Lo Bue-Said and corporate director Ken McLeod will continue to run the business, at least until the end of the financial year in September.
In that time, O’Neill said they would decide whether to appoint a new chief executive from within or outside the travel industry, alter the role of the chairman – currently held by Ron Marks – or continue as they are now.
Reassuring members that Advantage will not suffer from the loss of McEwan, who was also ABTA chairman until his retirement this week, see previous story, O’Neill said: "There is a plan that was already in place before John announced his retirement.
"John was very very good at grooming people and he created a very good succession plan."
He told the 450 delegates attending this year’s conference that Advantage had put "a clear business plan" in place three years ago.
"That has not changed," he said. "We have been preparing to take Advantage to the next stage for some time."
Ron Marks paid tribute to McEwan, who chose not to attend this year’s conference. "John will be missed," he said, "but he has left the organisation in very safe hands."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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