Neil Swanson is stepping up to replace Andrew Flintham as managing director of Tui UK & Ireland.
Swanson was made chief marketing officer for the company in June last year.
He joined Tui in 2001 launching the first websites for the Lunn Poly and Thomson brands.ย
This was followed by various e-commerce sales and development roles before taking on the full Tui sales remit of e-commerce, retail and contact centres in 2018.ย
He previously worked for Argos marketing division before moving into e-commerce and the creation of the first Argos website.
The change at the top of the UK operator came as Flintham was named managing director of British Airways Holidays at the end of October.
Swansonโs move comes as part of a wider Tui Group restructuring which sees a new operational model.
The new group structure will see the core business of classic packagesย complemented by dynamic packages and single components.ย
Tui aims to increase personalised offers and grow ancillaries through a โMarkets + Airlineโ transformation.
โThe successful retail and online direct channels will be at the centre of the groupโs growth ambitions,โ the company disclosed.
A new operating model for the tour operator will see the creation of a fully integrated functional โMarketplaceโ for the core business, enabling global scalability at speed, making it more efficient and profitable, according to Tui.ย
A separate unit will cover โExpansion Businessesโ focusing on new product categories and markets. This unit will act as an incubator and prioritise the introduction of new product platforms, โthe attraction of new customer segmentsโ, as well as entering new source markets.
An enlarged commercial function in its airline is also being set up.
All Tuiโs regions, including the UK & Ireland, will keep their own profit and loss statements and will report directly to Markets + Airline chief executive David Schelp.
Group chief executive Sebastian Ebel said: โWe have reported double-digit growth for the eighth consecutive quarter in underlying EBIT in August. This demonstrates the strength of our business strategy.ย
โWe will accelerate our growth plans and are therefore now taking the next step in our transformation.ย
โMarkets + Airline plays a key role in this. In addition to being a successful package tour operator with a strong brand, we will offer a growing portfolio of products, services and destinations.ย
โThe aim is to sell more products to more customers globally throughout the whole year.ย
โThe Markets + Airline transformation will help us to grow our TUI smile globally.โ
Schelp added: โAs the market environment and customer demand are changing, we now will accelerate our transformation to ensure that we deliver our ambitious growth targets.ย
โThe new organisation will establish clear accountabilities and allow for scalability, more agility and maximisation of our opportunities in the global tourism market.ย
โCustomers will be able to book more flexibly and choose from an even wider product range.ย
โThe integrated business model with Holiday Experiences โ which includes Hotels & Resorts, Cruises and Activities โ and Markets + Airline will further unlock significant value for our shareholders.ย
โThe transformation will support in delivering our growth ambitions and together with my new leadership team, I look forward to accelerating the transformation and successfully implementing the new set-up.โ
