Travel industry veteran Belinda Ward has been appointed as the new head of sales at Designer Journeys.
Ward will take responsibility for building and managing Designer Journeys’ network of more than 2,000 travel agents across Australia, New Zealand, and North America in order to help rebuild travel agent offerings, as demand returns to the market post-COVID-19.
Furthermore, Ward will take on responsibility for rolling out the Designer Journeys’ pipeline of travel agency group deals, which includes the recently announced partnership with Express Travel Group.
Ward is well known in the travel industry, having previously worked across a number of major travel companies including G Adventures and Peregrine Adventures.
Most recently, she was the general manager of the contact centre and operations at The Travel Corporation.
Designer Journeys CEO Matt McCann said Ward’s industry experience and belief in the company’s product offering made her the perfect fit.
“Her insight into what is required for travel agents to bounce back post-COVID is already shaping the role Design Journeys is looking to play for our agent network,” he said.
“Belinda’s enthusiasm for the travel industry and its people is unbridled and infectious. We are delighted she has joined Designer Journeys.”
Commenting on her appointment, Ward said: “I am excited about the opportunity to join the Designer Journeys team and introduce travel agents to a new way of working in the tailor-made space – something that is going to be incredibly important as we see travel reopen towards the end of 2021.”
Designer Journeys, previously Tripfuser, underwent a rebrand in August, following a major period of transformation for the RACV-backed company, having completed a $4.5 million funding round and changed up its management team in May last year, before gaining ATAS accreditation in June 2020.
