Kate Samuel joins InsideJapan Tours as the brand’s new senior Japan tailor-made product manager, while Sue Livsey takes up a newly created head of InsideAsia as ITG welcomes the Year of the Dragon.

UK-based Samuel brings experience from product roles with the likes of Scott Dunn, Audley Travel and Trailfinders. She will work alongside InsideJapan’s UK product and operations teams, as well as their counterparts in Japan.

"The opportunity with Inside Travel and InsideJapan is very exciting," said Samuel. "I wanted to bring my 20 years’ travel industry and product development experience to assist with some of the most exciting Japan travel product out there.

"With the boom in popularity of the country, I jumped at the chance to join a B Corp company committed to travel with a positive impact and a great product team to help deliver some authentic experiences and special places across this incredible country."

Livsey, meanwhile, brings 25 years’ industry experience to her role with InsideAsia, which has most recently been in senior product and commercial roles with brands including Abercrombie & Kent and Cox & Kings.

Livsey said she was looking forward to working on InsideAsia’s established Vietnam and Cambodia programmes, and "pioneering" new product in newer destinations to the operator such as South Korea – "and potential new destinations over the coming years".

"InsideAsia doubled its departures in 2023 compared with 2019, and I cannot wait to help deliver yet more growth for this company committed to sustainable cultural adventures across each of these special destinations,” Livsey added.

Simon King, Inside Travel Group co-founder, said after the trauma of Covid, the business had made a "rapid post-pandemic recovery" now south-east Asia has fully reopened, adding the group’s ambition was now to double the business in size by 2026.

"In 2023, we strengthened the team significantly, bringing in more than 80 new people across the business to ensure the high levels of service that we have built our reputation on,” said King.

"Inside Travel’s Year of the Dragon has started very positively with these two key appointments. We are very proud of what we have already created and look forward fulfilling growth plans that will ultimately benefit our destination partners, trade partners and customers over the coming years."

Earlier this month, Inside Travel Group’s UK trade manager, Gabo Quiros, said the trade remained "massively important" to the group’s growth plans, adding 2024 would herald "the start of big plans to engage more and more with our agent partners".