Kuoni’s Biggs goes: Was it a smart or stylish decision?

Saturday, 28 Jun, 2007 0

LONDON – The departure of Kuoni UK managing director Sue Biggs has drawn some interesting comment from the travel trade.

Biggs, one of the most well known figures in the UK travel trade, is stepping down after 25 years with the operator as part of a major shake-up by the Swiss parent company.

TravelMole UK said a Kuoni spokesman declined to elaborate further on the reasons for Biggs’ departure but there is speculation that she was given the option of resigning and a golden handshake, all part of a drastic restructuring.

The changes come as Kuoni Travel Holding changes its geographically-based organisation into a business-driven divisional structure.

Kuoni is being restructured into three divisions named “Style, Smart and Spirit” to describe the kind of holidays and branding Kuoni hopes to achieve in a direct-sell market.

One TravelMole reader, Nick Cooper of Villa Plus, described the “smart” division, the “style” division, and the “spirit” division as “gobbledegook”, adding, “Damn it, just when I thought I had understood all the new terms in tour operating, I am being out-foxed yet again.”

Travel Trade Report in Thailand had an interesting take on the news, reporting, “While Ms Biggs is well respected in UK travel circles, she gained notoriety in Thailand for making incessant demands for discounts, whenever the country hit a crisis.

“She is best known for asking for deep discounts after a disaster such as the tsunami, when there were coups, or a bomb blast. She was so consistent in her penny pinching drive, some hoteliers refused to work with Kuoni UK.”?

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Ian Jarrett

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