Uniworld and TTC Tour Brands has promoted Brian Hynes to Head of Sales, Ireland, across Uniworld, Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Costsaver Tours, Contiki and Luxury Gold.
The promotion comes as Uniworld celebrates a record year of sales in Ireland in 2023, and as Uniworld’s UK and Europe MD Chris Townson announces a relocation to Australia with his family, whilst retaining overall responsibility for the UK and Irish markets.
Chris will be back in Europe four times a year for major industry events such as CLIA conferences, WTM and Uniworld’s annual ‘kick off’ meeting in February.
He will work a flexible timetable, dedicating time each day for GMT / IST video calls to ensure seamless and consistent communication with partners and colleagues, while taking the opportunity that the time difference affords to work uninterrupted on detail-based activity, facilitating faster turnarounds.
Chris Townson said: “This year has been our best ever for sales from the Irish market – we are currently 45% up on where we were this time in 2022, which was in itself a record year for us. This is due to our award-winning product and service delivery, and to the hard work and dedication of Brian, whose promotion is very well deserved.
“Brian has been with TTC for eight years, and has a wealth of passion, experience and strong relationships that have helped our business to thrive. I am delighted for him, and look forward to continuing to work with him from my new home in Australia. Uniworld has the right team in the UK and Ireland to continue the momentum into 2024, and I will be working flexible hours to ensure that my team and our valued trade partners are serviced and supported even better as we move forward.”
Brian Hynes said: “It’s so exciting to see Uniworld’s sales go from strength to strength, as we introduce more Irish customers to the most luxurious river cruising on the market. Thanks very much to our fantastic trade partners here for their continued support, and we look forward to providing their clients with the supreme levels of service, comfort and experience that only Uniworld can deliver.”
The UK & Europe sales and marketing team is 10-strong, with representation across the UK, in Ireland and in Guernsey, and with a new UK appointment expected in the coming months to manage London and the South East of England.
Uniworld recently announced the acquisition of two new ships, the SS Victoria and the SS Elisabeth, with the former taking to the water in Spring 2024.
