TOWARD Europe looks for president

TOWARD Europe, the organisation created to maximise the profitability of the travel industry, is looking to appoint its first president following the resignation of acting chairman Alister Beveridge. Mr Beveridge, Cosmos group IT director, stepped down at the organisation’s first conference in Nice earlier this month, saying that he had only ever intended to take on the role for one year “to help guide the organisation during its early development”. “Following a highly successful first 12 months for TOWARD Europe, I now wish to keep that pledge and hand over to a high-profile successor from one of the European industry’s leading companies,” he said. Mr Beveridge has also relinquished his membership of the management committee, which will finalise TOWARD’s agenda during its next meeting in March. A spokesman said the organisation was now targeting a European figurehead to act as president. It was agreed at the Nice conference that issues to be addressed by the organisation should include inventory management, content aggregation and transaction processes, and business process analysis. TOWARD Europe is also investigating whether to undertake consumer research on behalf of its membership, which consists of 36 companies including Amadeus, Accor, BA Holidays, Cosmos, Hertz Europe, Eurostar, Europcar, RWA and Travel 2. The management committee left to steer TOWARD Europe into its second year consists of Bill Barnes, Amadeus head of tours business unit; William Hennessy, Hertz Europe director automation marketing; Mark Bradbury, RWA director business development; and Paul Mahoney, Travel 2 IT director.