dnata recruits touring product and commercial manager

Sherwin Arends has joined dnata Travel Group’s B2B team as touring product and commercial manager.

Arends’ responsibilities include “developing and driving the B2B touring product proposition and service” for the Incredible Journeys brand.

He will report into Mark Henderson,  head of product west.

Previously, Arends held the role of trade relations officer at South African Tourism and prior to that he managed Audley Travel’s South Africa product.

During this 15-year travel career, he has had a mix of sales and product roles including spending four years working as crew at Qatar Airways.

His appointment comes after Incredible Journeys joined the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers (Atas) in September.

Arends said: “A key focus for me will be not only to further strengthen the long-standing relationships we have with our key touring partners, but also identify new opportunities for differentiated product from the rest of the market.”

Henderson added: “We’re excited to welcome Sherwin to the B2B team. We know that his passion for touring will be a great asset.

“We have exciting plans for the Incredible Journeys brand and see the kind of multi-centre, complex itineraries that characterise the touring and adventure holidays we sell through it as exactly where the skills, knowledge and expertise of our team can flourish and add value for agents.”

He added dnata saw touring as a “growth area”, adding: “We are looking forward to seeing how he can maximise the opportunities we believe there are alongside our valued agent partners.”