Festive Road, the recently launched business travel marketing and communications consultancy, originally created by Paul Tilstone in February 2015, has announced the arrival of Caroline Strachan as partner.
Ms Strachan joins as an equal partner in the business which has boasted clients such as Barclaycard, IATA, Marriott, NH Hotel Group and UBS in its first 9 months of operation. She joins with a pedigree in both business travel supplier and buyer roles, most recently as Vice President of Global Consulting forAmerican Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) and Global Travel Director for AstraZeneca.
The pair last worked over a two year period in partnership as the CEO and Chairman of the UK’s Institute of Travel & Meetings (ITM), and together created and successfully launched the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in Europe. Ms Strachan is departing her Amex GBT role to jointly lead the Festive Road consultancy, with Tilstone heading the supply side of the business and Strachan the demand side. The move will see the consultancy develop engagement and communication strategies within travel management programmes as well as between suppliers and their business travel clients.
Speaking about the reunion, Paul Tilstone, founder of Festive Road said, “Having the opportunity to work alongside Caroline again is a real pleasure and a fantastic development opportunity for the company. Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting her knows just how visionary and inspiring she is and that translates into true client value.”
Ms Strachan, who will officially join Festive Road in January 2016, added, “Paul and I see real opportunity for independent experts in engagement for both the buyer and supplier communities. The huge disruption our market is experiencing means that being able to effectively communicate up and down stream is a key requirement. The future looks really exciting for Festive Road and our partnership.”
The partners plan to announce a number of Festive Road Associate appointments in the New Year. The company is sourcing Associates based on integrity values and speciality in the field of business travel engagement.
www.festive-road.com
