David Speakman, the founder of Travel Counsellors, in which he sold his shareholding and left in June 2018, has made a “significant” investment in Cardiff-based technology supplier Inspiretec and has joined the board as a non-executive director. Inspiretec is to launch a next-generation travel retail technology platform World Travel Market – London next month.
David said: “Since leaving Travel Counsellors I have been looking at setting myself a fresh challenge in the industry I love. Technology continues to change how the consumer engages with travel – however, I think this is only the beginning of a much bigger revolution.
“The opportunity that presents itself now is how technology can be harnessed to empower the agent or the consumer and give them a seamless, efficient, knowledgeable and emotionally satisfying booking experience.”
Inspiretec, which provides services and technologies to travel companies, including the Travelink booking and reservation system, the Holistic CRM system, and web design agency Sequence, has offices in London and Toronto and supports over £2 billion of transactions for over 2.5 million travellers a year worldwide. Clients include dnata Travel Europe, Abercrombie & Kent, Visit Britain, and Travelopia.
Simon Powell, Chief Executive, Inspiretec, said: “We have had a great year, seeing top and bottom-line growth, and David joining us is a key part of our next phase of strategic growth. Inspiretec has its roots in the retail industry and it was only in the last decade that we focused more on the tour operator space. In 2020 we will be launching the next generation of retail system and David’s expertise in this area will prove invaluable as we take this to market.”
