Star Alliance’s Australian coordinator announces retirement

Star Alliance’s Australian coordinator announces retirement

Star Alliance has announced that its Australian coordinator, Gordon Young, has decided to retire at the end of the year.

Young joined Star Alliance in early 2014, bringing with him more than 40 years’ experience working for some of the world’s most respected travel and tourism organisations, including American Express and Virgin Australia.

As coordinator for Australia, Young has helped raise Star Alliance’s profile in Australia through a number of trade and consumer marketing promotions, including its ground-breaking sponsorship of AFTA’s National Travel Industry Awards.

In addition, Young found new ways to enhance Aussie travel agents’ understanding of Star Alliance’s products and services through a broad range of training programs and incentive campaigns.

Rick Pomery, chair of Star Alliance’s country steering committee, said Young’s passion and determination have been “nothing short of inspirational”.

“As well as an unrivalled ability to build enduring relationships, Gordon has a rare gift for recognising opportunities and delivering outcomes that inevitably exceed expectations,” Pomery said.

“Nothing better epitomises his success than Star Alliance’s dazzling promotions at the National Travel Industry Awards, which each year found new and canny ways to ensure no one shone brighter than Star Alliance on the travel industry’s night of nights.

“There is no doubt that as a result of these efforts – which have been recognised across the Star Alliance world – Star Alliance has never been more respected or enjoyed a greater presence in the Australian marketplace.”

In other news, the airline alliance is moving all of its IT infrastructure to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to reduce costs, enhance performance and become a more agile company.

Star Alliance is working with Tata Consultancy Services to migrate all of its data, platforms, and business-critical applications to AWS and close its data centres, which will reduce its infrastructure total cost of ownership by 25 per cent.

Latest News

  • Products

Embrace the journey: Traversing the world with the Shokz OpenRun

If you’ve been on the wrong side of a final call in the airport, or missed the stop on rail journey, it might be time to invest in a pair of Shokz OpenRun headphones. Originally marketed as headphones for fitness fanatics, runners or cyclists with a keen to steer clear of a prang with a car, […]

  • Tour Operators
  • Tourism

TTC: Deals are driving up demand for September trips

The latest market research from TTC Tour Brands shows interest in international leisure travel remains high for 2024, with 77 per cent of Australians over 18 still planning trips this year. Notably, 28 per cent of those travellers are eyeing September for their journeys. Europe continues to be the most popular destination, with 68 per […]

  • Aviation

Qantas ‘working urgently’ to fix app data leak

Qantas is looking into customer reports that passengers have this morning been able to access other passengers’ personal information on the airlines app. X user Lachlan posted that he was able log into different accounts every time he opened the app. My @Qantas app logs me in to a different person each time I open […]

  • Hotels

Revamped Wailoaloa Beach hotel opens as Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa

Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort & Spa is open and ready for bookings after the first phase of a multi-million-dollar transformation. Part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ premium collection, the transformation has seen the completion of 106 guestrooms showcasing contemporary interiors reflective of the premium Crowne Plaza brand and is a first for the […]

  • Luxury
  • News

Kamalaya Koh Samui clinches clutch of wellness awards

Kamalaya Wellness Sanctuary & Holistic Spa has so far clinched five prestigious awards in 2024, including being inducted into the ‘Hall of Fame’ at the World Spa & Wellness Awards in London. Founders of the Koh Samui sanctuary and spa John and Karina Stewart expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the awards. “We are profoundly honoured […]