Maxine Brown (pictured left) will join the Kuoni team on September 3 after a 10-year career with the company in-store, and will be responsible for developing relationships, training and support for agents in the south of England, including Kent, Sussex, South London, Surrey and Hampshire.
The appointment follows “one of the best years the company has had for travel agent sales”.
Bennetts said: “This will allow us to be much more visible and continue to work hand-in-hand with agents to create bespoke development and training plans.”
Brown added: “Having originally joined Kuoni to work in the agency sales team 10 years ago, I’m delighted to be returning to this newly-created role.
“I have spent the last seven years working on front line sales at our Bluewater branch dealing with both direct clients and travel agents.”
Meanwhile, Kuoni has appointed Michelle Tomlinson to the newly-created role of cruise and partnership manager as the operator eyes growth in the sector.
In her new position, reporting to Claire Ross, head of specialist product, Tomlinson will be responsible for taking Kuoni’s cruise programme “to the next level”. She will also be responsible for managing other third party partnerships.
Tomlinson joined Kuoni in 2007, before which she worked for Travelbag and Ebookers in both aviation and marketing.
She said: “I’m joining the cruise and specialist teams at an exciting time for the business.
“We’ve created a fantastic cruise collection and team of experts, but there’s more to come.
"There’s so much more we can do to get the message about cruise Kuoni-style out there.”
Kuoni will launch its expanded new stay and cruise collection on August 17 with a range of new partners and itineraries.
Ross said: “Our strategy is all about working with select partners which offer differentiated experiences and answer specific customer needs, whether in the onboard experience, the itineraries or a combination of both.”
Two new ocean cruise lines and worldwide itineraries have been added to Kuoni’s new stay and cruise collection.
Ross added: “That focus has led us to introduce some really exciting new stay and cruise itineraries including a safari and cruise itinerary with Azamara, a tour and cruise in China with Regent and the hugely popular combination of Las Vegas and the Caribbean with Celebrity.”
