Attraction World Group restructures commercial team

Attraction World Group has made a raft of senior appointments as part of a restructure of its commercial team a year after its acquisition by Ten Oceans Private Equity.

The group has appointed its head of client success Isabel Beckermann as commercial director to oversee the group’s product supply and distribution strategy and strengthen links between the two.

Martyn Samson has been recruited from PrioTicket – a company Ten Oceans Private Equity has also invested in – as head of product for the UK and EMEA as part of the shake-up. Previously, Samson was supply director for 365Tickets.

Samson will work alongside former head of product Phillipa Standley, who will move to a new role in the business as head of theme parks and USA partnerships to allow the group to forge ahead with contracting plans and expansion of its product range.

Following the acquisition of Attraction World Group in June 2021, the company has focused on investment in the company’s vision and culture and in onboarding talent.

Chief executive Oliver Nicholls said: “Bringing Isabel to AWG two months ago was a real coup for us. Her experience as a senior executive for some of the world’s leading travel brands, Booking.com, Klook and Flight Centre has added huge value so far and both Justin (Mahoney, chief operating officer) and I felt the time was right to make these changes.

“Martyn joining Isabel and Phillipa significantly strengthens our commercial team. Martyn is someone I have known and respected for ten years and is very well respected amongst our supply network. His experience of working with our partners at PrioTicket is only going to strengthen that relationship.”

The company said the move would give scope for a recruitment drive into other markets, with new roles being created outside the UK, in the US and Dubai.

Nicholls added: “Given the demand for our solutions and the growth we are witnessing we aren’t stopping here.

“We have a number of highly respected industry professionals joining the business over the next two months and have a number of roles available for the right candidates. We are creating something really special and are casting our net far and wide to attract the best talent in the industry.”

Nicholls said AWG was now trading in line with 2019 levels for the first time since the start of the Covid pandemic and on course to beat 2019 sales thanks to increased demand and improved technology efficiencies.

New commercial director Beckermann, who joined the group two months ago as head of client success, said: “Having a closer alignment between supply and distribution is a great step towards ensuring we develop a common strategy that will fulfil service to all our partners. I am excited that AWG decided to make this move.”

She added: “We have two amazing heads of product running supply and a strong team across both departments and with us looking for more talent to come in, it will be a whirlwind but very exciting ride for the next 12 months and beyond.”

Samson said it was an exciting time to join AWG. “After spending many years in the travel industry, I am looking forward to reconnecting with old colleagues as well as meeting new ones in this role,” he said.