New boss named for StudentUniverse

Steven de Blois has been named managing director of StudentUniverse, Flight Centre Travel Group’s online travel booking platform for students.

He replaces Mike Cleary who spent almost a decade with the firm, including the last four years at the helm.

De Blois will be responsible for leading all aspects of the business across the four countries in which StudentUniverse operates – US, Canada, Australia and the UK – including product, engineering, design, data/analytics, marketing, operations, finance, travel services/account management, call centre and customer success teams.

He spent almost seven years at Expedia as global director of product management, four years at Air Canada in corporate strategy and ecommerce, and most recently two years as managing director and head of product at Umapped, a Flight Centre company that powers a B2B itinerary platform for travel companies.

De Blois said: “Now more than ever, students are looking to experience new places and cultures. The StudentUniverse team is perfectly positioned to lead the travel market in re-opening the world to students and youth.”

FCTG president leisure Americas Marc Casto added: “Since joining the FCTG family at Umapped, Steve has demonstrated excellent leadership with a very clear vision of success.

“Mike Cleary left big shoes to fill, and I have no doubt Steve is the ideal candidate to lead StudentUniverse into its next exciting phase, and to continue to unlock the potential of the world’s leading online travel booking agency for students and youth.”

Currently based in Toronto, de Blois will be splitting his time between there and the company headquarters in Boston.