Ivan Walter will take over the role from Reinhard Kotzaurek on April 1, having begun at the company as executive advisor to STA Travel at the beginning of the year.

Kotzaurek will return to the central Europe region to lead the business there as managing director, CEU.

Walter has many years of experience in multinational travel companies, including 12 years at Kuoni, and from 2013-2018 as chief executive at GTA Travel.

He said: “Under Reinhard’s leadership, STA Travel has laid the foundations that will enable us to adapt to the changes of the industry and take STA Travel to the next level.

"Now we will move into a phase of execution to deliver further benefits for our customers, partners, and employees. I am delighted to be joining at this important point in the company’s journey.”

Kotzaurek added: “I am very excited to be returning to my talented central European team. We have fantastic opportunity in the region to strengthen our offering and deliver further growth.

"As of April, I will continue to be part of the global leadership team and am pleased that we will continue this journey we have started together.”