Effective 1st April 2013, Ivan Walter has been appointed as Chief Executive of GTA, Kuoni Global Travel Services’ FIT business unit. He was previously Senior Vice President for Global Sourcing & Product Development. GTA is Kuoni’s B2B provider of ground products and services for fully independent travel (FIT).
The GTA CEO role was previously held by Rolf Schafroth in conjunction with his role as overall CEO of the Kuoni Global Travel Services Division. Ivan Walter’s appointment enables Rolf Schafroth to concentrate fully on his role as CEO of the entire Division, which comprises both the GTA and Kuoni Group Travel Experts brands, as well as on his responsibilities as a member of the Kuoni Group Executive Board. As a result of this promotion, Ivan Walter also becomes a member of the Kuoni Global Travel Services’ Divisional Leadership Team.
“When we announced the acquisition and subsequent integration of GTA into the Kuoni organisation, I decided to personally oversee the integration programme that would ensure the successful establishment of the newly combined FIT businesses under the GTA brand,” said Rolf Schafroth. “Now with many of these integration tasks complete, I am delighted that Ivan will be heading up GTA, allowing me to concentrate on the continued development of the entire division that also includes our Group travel business unit, Kuoni Group Travel Experts, headed by David Painter.”
“Ivan’s appointment is excellent news for GTA. He has spent 12 years in the Kuoni FIT world and built the extremely successful Kuoni Connect business. He has broad experience of all business functions and in the past year has successfully led global sourcing and product development for our entire FIT business.”
Before joining Kuoni, Ivan managed international sales and marketing activities for a private railway company. “I am very excited by this new opportunity,” he said. “I know there is much potential to grow our business and shape the future of travel from the very strong foundation that we have already built.”
