Uniworld snaffles departing helloworld.com.au CEO
Boutique river cruise operator Uniworld has secured the services of former helloworld.com.au CEO Jeremy Reitman, Travel Weekly can exclusively confirm.
Reitman will take on the role of Chief Marketing Officer, starting May 11 in Uniworld’s Los Angeles office. He joins fellow Helloworld departee Fiona Dalton, who commenced her role this week as Managing Director for Uniworld based in Australia.
Yesterday, Travel Weekly broke the news that the online arm of the Helloworld empire, helloworld.com.au, would soon be operating without its CEO Jeremy Reitman.
Speculation around Reitman’s role had been ongoing since mid April, however Helloworld refused to comment about the move or any changes in leadership at the online company. Travel Weekly have since learnt Reitman resigned from his post prior to Andrew Burnes sharing his new strategy for helloworld.com.au and the broader Helloworld business.
Reitman had been at the helm of Helloworld’s online business since February 2014, his placement announced on the eve of the closure of the popular bestflights.com.au and bestcruises.com.au websites. Reitman was appointed by ex-Helloworld chief executive Rob Gurney following a tenure at Expedia where he was director of digital marketing.
Only weeks ago current chief executive Andrew Burnes announced helloworld.com.au would transition to a new platform from August 31, cutting its strategic alliance with Orbtiz Worldwide.
Burnes said that the strategic alliance between Helloworld and Orbitz had not delivered the revenue streams initially envisaged by both parties and had created too much conflict with Helloworld’s branded and associate members.
“The financial investment by Helloworld Limited in its development is over $18 million to date and between the ongoing losses of the .com operation and the channel conflict with the online site carrying the same brand as our branded and associate members, we have decided to transition the site to a more agent-aligned portal” Burnes said on the April 21 announcement.
Burnes said he “stands by his opinion that it is the groups’ responsibility to drive business in the door of our agency members, onto the phones of our agency members and onto the portals of our agency members including Helloworld.com.au”.
The operation has been costing approximately $6m a year over the last two years plus capital expenditure.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
-
Latest comments
Latest News
Minor hotels appoints Puneet Dhawan to key Asia role
Global hotel owner and operator Minor Hotels has appointed Puneet Dhawan as head of Asia as the group plots its growth in Asia and India. From July, Dhawan will be responsible for the performance of all Minor Hotels properties in Asia, working in close collaboration with the Minor Hotels senior leadership team and will report […]
Abercrombie & Kent and Crystal appoint Evon Ler to director of sales, Asia
Abercrombie & Kent Travel Group have announced that Evon Ler will join them in the new role of director of sales, Asia. She will work closely with Tony Archbold (VP, Sales, APAC, Crystal) and Susan Haberle (VP, Sales & Partnerships, APAC, A&K) with trade support across the region. Ler comes to the A&K family with more […]
Government urges Aussies to ‘reconsider’ plans to visit Noumea as New Caledonia death toll hits five
The government has updated its advice for Aussies who may be considering New Caledonia during this time.
Situation ‘dire’ for Air Vanuatu as rival carriers look to swoop on flailing airline
Like a bird with no wings, Air Vanuatu is grounded as its only Boeing 737 heads to Melbourne after being repossessed.
Vivid Sydney will light up the Harbour City’s food scene
Local and international culinary stars will descend on Sydney for Vivid Food. Post-event hangovers a given...
Experience Co appoints Matthew Vince as the new interim head of marketing
We are still trying to confirm whether it is Matthew himself in the lead image, will report back.
Hotel Review: Atlantis The Palm – Luxury for the whole family
Of course ever parent knows the real luxury experiences come when you find a way to leave the kids somewhere.
Bridgerton is back! Live the REAL Colin & Penelope experience
The real Penelope experience would be falling in love with someone who doesn't love you back but that's hard to market.
Sailing the Sun: Six nights aboard Princess’ first Sphere Class ship
Cruising has always been extravagant and the Sun is no different, apart from riff raff like us being let on board.
Australian tourists are big spenders globally on experiences and nightlife, Mastercard report finds
Aussies do their bit for the global economy by propping up bars across the world. It's a proud day for us all.
Sydney confirms position as Australia’s No. 1 business events host
Surprise surprise... Sydney Harbour and the Opera House come up trumps. Can you tell we live here?
Luke Mangan launches Bistrot Bisou, in Hotel Indigo, his first Melbourne restaurant in over a decade
The news means we're due a trip to Melbourne, but we'll wait for winter to past first!
Surf magazine Tracks hunt for grommets to launch Airb’n’b-style platform for surfers
Three young surfers on an all expenses paid surf trip on the Aussie coast.... What could go wrong?
Luxury cruise ship Paspaley Pearl by Ponant has appointed a new team of industry experts
Paspaley Pearl by Ponant will offer a gem of a cruise, as the new team shows by their pearly whites.
Memphis Tourism brings blues to Sydney as it adds Jack Daniels to sponsor roster
Memphis Tourism would win the award for coolest sponsor if there was one. But there isn't.
Jetstar and Qantas perception ratings soar following Bonza’s implosion
Forget what your mum told you, you can make yourself look better by making others look bad.
Train over Plane – Journey Beyond releases The Overland’s 2025 season
Clickety-clack, more than a century on track. Unlike the Overland, our poetry is not in demand.
AmaWaterways launches Australian operations at Sydney office with panoramic Harbour views
You should click on this article for the content but it's also okay if you just want to see someone cut a ribbon.
Travel insurance expert’s top 3 tips for Aussies stranded in New Caledonia amid riots
Despite appearances, being stranded in a luxury resort isn't all milk and honey.
Perfect Somewheres: Hotels.com celebrates best-in-class venues for guest experiences
Surprisingly, no hotels with bed bugs were represented in the top 1% of top hotels.
Airports boss says $1.7 billion Budget innovation fund will “kickstart” domestic manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel
Time to start saving up your waste - Australia is about to become a hub of biofuel innovation!
Apparent launches ‘All heart, no hassle’ campaign for Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveller
Despite appearances, even the most severe-looking businessperson wants heart in their travel.
Indaba 2024: Losing out on memory, South Africa Tourism hands its fate to children
South Africa Tourism's chief marketing officer reminds us all we were once joyful children and not grumpy adults.
ACA & CLIA join forces ahead of Australian Tourism Exchange
Watch your back Kyle and Jackie 'O' - a new power couple is in town.
South Africa eyes affordable tourism to grow market
In an unlikely move, South African Tourism is actually encouraging young people to travel MORE.
ATIA applauds government’s fast-track passport announcement
Excellent news if you've ever experienced the sheer horror of realising you don't have a functioning passport.
DayAway names Aussie partners for luxury community based membership
Tired of dining with the riff raff? Get yourself a DayAway membership and slip into a life of luxury.
Silversea expands Nova Class with Silver Ray
Be prepared - this article has more silver than your local jewellers!
Tourism Tasmania CEO says a trip to Tassie could cure your Aurora Australis FOMO
With images like these - you're bound to regret being asleep during Australia's version of the northern lights.
Flight searches to Ho Chi Minh City skyrocket by 246% as city strengthens ties to Oz
We aren't endorsing ditching your work to look at flights to Ho Chi Minh but we're also not not endorsing it.
On Location: Rejoice! It’s Your Daily Wrap Of Africa’s Travel Indaba
Spare a moment to think about the cleaner who had to pick up all the confetti after this one kicked off.
Lack of budget spend will hit international visitor recovery, says Australian Tourism Industry Council
We've done the monotonous trawl through budget reports so you don't have to. You can thank us later!
On Location: Expedia CEO assures AI will not replace human roles, announces AI text assistant
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless its announced at a big conference, then it'll probably be reported.
VietJet walks away from Bonza investment, administrators look to maximise chance of survival
VietJet's making big plays in Australia but is drawing the line at buying a defunct airline.
Top four airports return to profit after post-Covid period comes to an end
If you feel like we just haven't spent enough of our lives talking about Covid, then boy is this the article for you!
COMO launches new family-sized farmhouse in the heart of Tuscany
COMO Hotels and Resorts has launched its new farmhouse apartments in the heart of Tuscany, just in time for Australians to escape our wet winter. And it’s also an ideal time for Aussies of Italian ancestry to explore their home country as 2024 has been declared the year of Roots and Heritage Tourism by the […]
After reading these figures I just cannot believe that someone personally is not being held accountable for the decision making process. Shutting down a profitable $200 Million business has to be one of the craziest business decisions ever to only go and waste money like this and not succeed is ludicrous. Good on you Mr Burnes for taking this role on and actually trying to sort out the mess it is all in. Very strange for all this to go on and not be declared to shareholders, after all it is a publically listed company. I guess it would make a good documentary or book as it all starts to unravel.
Poor Helloworld Franchisees, and Affiliates, their change of leaders is worse than the Australian Government, and that’s saying something!! Flighties keep powering on, and I was one of their competitors
Finding the Helloworld website is easy but the company also needs to build a separate website/s based around what it is people are looking for using an umbrella domain name. Inside there should be specific individual pages relating to search terms people are using eg. “Cheap flights”, Discount Flights”,” Discount Airfares”, “Best Airfares”, Best Flights” etc to each of the main destinations. In the Australian winter the northern hemisphere sells and in the summer it’s the opposite. Eg build a page/s who’s title might be ” Discount Airfares Sydney to London”. Another page could be “Cheap Airfares Sydney to London” and so on using the different type of airfare term people are using from all the major cities in Australia. Bali is a big seller right now so a typical search term might be “Bali Travel Specials” and Helloworld doesn’t even rate a first page listing looking at Google just now. It is littered with paid adverts but with good web building and search engine optimisation and techniques it should be possible to get a first page listing without having to pay for it. This is where HW is falling down as I see it. Years ago I was search engine manager for the only travel and tourism search engine in Australia. After I left I built a 100+ page website from home that advertised nothing but travel deals, travel specials and airfares using a killer domain name and passed the enquiries onto chosen travel agents. This was in the days FC used the term, “Lowest Airfares Guaranteed” and I stumbled across the secret to website optimisation by accident and built several pages using the term “Our Lowest Airfares Guaranteed Competitive” and my page had a first page listing above FC. At any given time I could see who was looking at my site via my stats and they were there regularly sniffing around. I could do all the website changes myself instantly and didn’t have to pay $85 per hour to a webmaster. With no advertising or paying big money for listings I was on page one for so many important search terms to popular destinations. Don’t get sucked in by experts telling you you need their website optimisation services. They make it out to be super tricky but really, there is no trick to it at all as I found out. I had the site for 7 years and regularly got over 1000 visitors each day. So many people asked me, “How do you get so many visitors?” and I said, “Build pages for what people are looking for and they will come and find you”. Don’t rely on the Helloworld webpage to feed your agents because it will never happen unless you do something similar. It aint rocket science.