Simmonds, who has headed up JG for the past two years, will join HF on 1 October as part of a phased takeover from Harrington, who is leaving the walking tour specialist after 40 years.
Prior to his spell with JG, Simmonds returned to Saga Holidays as chief executive in early 2020 after a decade with not-for-profit holiday charity Revitalise, which provides respite holidays for disabled people in their carers.
He earlier worked his way up through Saga Holidays’ marketing, sales and operations functions to the role of managing director.
HF said Simmonds had implemented a number of key new strategies at JG, including introducing longer duration and higher value breaks, and a wider range of winter sun and river cruising options.
It has also expanded into the long-haul sector for the first time, picking Sri Lanka as its first destination.
Ben Reid, HF Holidays chair, said the HF board wanted to extend its "heartfelt thanks" to Harrington and wished him well in his "well-earned" retirement. One of Harrington’s final acts as chief executive, a role he took up in November 2019, was to steer the brand through B Corp certification, something it finally achieved in April and something Harrington reflected on in a recent interview with TTG as a personal mission of his.
"He has worked tirelessly to ensure HF Holidays is a successful and purpose-led organisation, and we are confident we are now in a position to continue the progress we have been making since the pandemic," said Reid.
Harrington said: "I’ve had a tremendously fulfilling career at HF Holidays and will miss it, but it is time for me to move on to a new chapter of my life full of fun, friendship, and family.
"There will be a thorough handover process over the next few months to ensure a seamless transition and to uphold our values and people-led way of working. Chris is very much looking forward to meeting and getting to know all employees, leaders, and our 48,000 members."
Turning to Simmonds’ arrival, Reid described him as "a proven leader" with a passion for travel and a successful background in the sector. "His experience at Saga will be particularly valuable in understanding our core target market," Reid continued.
"Our comprehensive search, which emphasised trying to achieve gender balance, received more than 300 applicants, demonstrating how positively HF Holidays is viewed across the travel industry.”
Simmonds added: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at JG Travel Group, but am now very excited about the wonderful opportunity to lead HF Holidays onto the next chapter in its long and successful history.
"I am fully committed to HF Holidays’ values as a co-operative and very much look forward to leading with colleagues, the board and members to realise its ambitious growth plans including developing and enhancing our range of worldwide holidays, rail adventures and discovery tours while building on the immense success of our 16 [UK] country houses."
