Flight Centre Travel Group has announced the appointment of Joachim Holte as its new chief marketing officer (CMO) for its premier leisure travel brand.

The former Kmart marketing executive will be responsible for leading the Flight Centre brand’s marketing and digital experience departments in Australia.

Holte joins Flight Centre with 18 years’ experience in Australia and overseas across the travel, retail, finance and media sectors.

Having worked for European specialised ski travel agency Iglu.com and product comparison site Kelkoo, Holte relocated to Australia in 2004 to take up a roles at Wotif.com and Yahoo! before heading up marketing at Ratecity.com.au and Wayfair Australia.

Holte then returned to Wotif.com, where his last role as executive general manager for Australia and New Zealand saw him heading up product, marketing and strategy for the company’s key business unit.

He also spent three-and-a-half years with travel comparison site Wego.com as chief marketing officer based in Singapore, before taking on his most recent role as head of digital marketing at Kmart.

Holte replaces Jason Wolff at Flight Centre, who joined Trafalgar as its Aussie MD in April. He will report to Flight Centre’s executive general manager, Allisa O’Connell.

“We are pleased to welcome Joachim and believe he will play a valuable role in our brand’s ongoing evolution,” O’Connell said.

“Exciting initiatives are already underway to ensure we maintain a strong customer-centric focus and to enhance the customer experience and product offering across multiple sales channels within the flagship Flight Centre brand.”

Commenting on his appointment, Holte said: “I’m excited to be joining one of the most iconic travel brands in Australia and look forward to going on the next steps on the journey with the passionate team at Flight Centre.

“The opportunities for growth and innovation are only limited by our imaginations, as the global demand for travel offerings continues to grow and change.

“Flight Centre has a long history of being a game-changing brand and I feel privileged to be going on the next steps of that journey.”