Gaddes has been appointed trade partnerships manager at Travelopia, with responsibility for its tailor-made brands – Hayes & Jarvis, Citalia, Sovereign, Austravel and American Holidays.
He will work alongside Travelopia account manager Amy Power to support head office and customer-facing agents.
Reporting to head of trade partnerships Simon Garrido, Gaddes will focus on developing and delivering Travelopia’s trade partnership strategy, which is centred around worldwide multi-centre trips.
Gaddes said he had been overwhelmed by the positive messages he’d received since news of his new position broke. “It’s been really emotional. Within an hour of arriving at the office on the Monday, Thomas Cook collapsed [23 September] and we had to give up our phones and laptop, so there wasn’t much time to get in touch with people.”
As such, Gaddes and Katrina Latimer, former Cook trade partnership manger, have penned a letter, thanking the trade. “It’s been great to get stuck in at Travelopia though,” said Gaddes.
While he will be predominantly field-based, Gaddes has been spending time bedding in at Travelopia’s Crawley office. “It felt like the right time for me to step into luxury travel,” added Gaddes.
“Everyone at Travelopia has been so kind and so interested in me and what I can bring. There is some really great knowledge here and the product is brilliant.”
Commenting on Gaddes appointment, Garrido said: “We have been discussing opportunities for a while and have now been able to move this forward following the sad events [Cook’s collapse].
“Kevin is well-known and respected and brings with him the expertise that will enable us to further develop our relationships with the trade.”
Gaddes added: “While the events [of Cook’s collapse] were incredibly sad for me personally, and the industry more widely – at Cook, we really believed the business was going to turn around – I am pleased I can move onto the next chapter within the industry and join a business with such great ambition.”
