Wave of change continues to shake up Helloworld

Wave of change continues to shake up Helloworld
By Anne Majumdar


Another senior member of the Helloworld team is leaving the building, this time in the form of Qantas Holidays and Viva! Holidays general manager sales Fiona Dalton.

Managing director Peter Egglestone confirmed Dalton’s departure on Friday.

“Fiona has been presented with a significant opportunity to advance her career and has decided the time is right for her to leave our business,” Egglestone said.

“This is well-deserved recognition of Fiona’s expertise and also of our Qantas Holidays/Viva! Holidays business as a training ground for highly-skilled, market-leading travel professionals.”

Egglestone added that Dalton leaves with the company’s “blessing” and thanked her for her contribution over the last five years.

He also signalled the start of a restructure as a result of Helloworld’s merger with AOT.

“We will be replacing her role in Sydney as part of the new structure which will be implemented as we progress through the integration with AOT,” he confirmed. The recruitment process is now underway.

It has since been confirmed that Dalton is joining The Travel Corporation’s Uniworld brand as the managing director of the river cruise line’s Australian operations.

Hers is the latest departure over at Helloworld, following hot on the heels of last month’s “removal” of the position of chief marketing officer, held by Kim Portrate, and the announcement that chief financial officer Jenny Macdonald would leave at the end of April. Macdonald’s replacement was named last week as Michael Burnett, most recently CFO of Transurban North America.

February also saw chief executive and managing director Andrew Burnes confirm two other “significant” departures – Stephanie Belton, the company’s general counsel and company secretary, and Andrea Slark, its general manager corporate development.

Meanwhile, the company announced some “good news” from its corporate front, with Helloworld for Business head David Padman welcoming Show Group Enterprises (SGE) to the network, also on Friday. The company is a travel manager, freight logistics and tour-trucking supplier to the entertainment, film, corporate and sporting markets. It has “multiple locations” across Australia and New Zealand.

SGE managing director George Proos identified the buying power of Helloworld as a “major attraction”.

“This partnership is the next step in further expanding our business,” he said. “We look forward to taking advantage of the variety of tools and support we will have access to as a member.”

The network now has 73 corporate agencies in its ranks.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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