Greg O’Hara, the founder and senior managing director of Certares Management LLC, has been appointed as the new chair of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
O’Hara, who will assume the role later this month, has served as vice chair of the WTTC executive committee since 2021 and a member of the committee since 2019.
He will succeed current Chairman Arnold Donald, who has held the role since the spring of 2021 and was previously President and CEO of Carnival Corporation.
O’Hara was the Chief Investment Officer of JPMorgan Chase’s Special Investments Group before founding Certares, one of the biggest investment platforms devoted to travel and tourism industry. He is a member of the TripAdvisor board of directors in addition to being the chairman of American Express Global Business Travel.
O’Hara has formerly held directorships in the following companies: Singer Vehicle Design, Hertz Global Holdings, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Worldspan, and the Innocence Project.
WTTC President & CEO Julia Simpson stated, “First of all, I would like to thank Arnold for his enormous contribution to WTTC, his unwavering dedication and exceptional leadership during his tenure.” She was speaking to participants at the global tourism body’s 23rd Global Summit in Kigali today.
“As we begin this new chapter, I’m happy to welcome Greg to the position of Chairman. Greg possesses extensive expertise and a profound comprehension of the Travel & Tourism industry. I am confident that under his leadership, WTTC will achieve unprecedented success in a field that is expanding at a rate that surpasses that of the global economy.
“It has been an honor to serve my fellow WTTC Members as Chair,” stated current Chair Arnold Donald. The joint efforts of our Members, made possible by both public and private partnerships, have shown to be indispensable in helping our sector recover from the economic and human consequences of COVID-19. Right now, travel and tourism are seeing extraordinary, sustainable growth on a global scale.
“Of course, without the solid foundation I inherited, Julia’s leadership, and the dedication of our WTTC personnel, the enormous success made on all fronts would not have been possible. Serving our Members and collaborating with Julia and her staff over the past few years has been a pleasure.
“I am thrilled to be handing over the reins to Greg, a distinguished global leader in the travel and tourism industry and a strong contributor to the WTTC as my term draws to an end.”
“It is a great privilege to take over from Arnold Donald—a giant of our sector,” stated Greg O’Hara. WTTC and Julia are two of our members, and I am excited to be of support as the industry grows.
WTTC and its members are eager to guide the world’s travel and tourism industry toward a more promising and sustainable future under this new leadership.
Source- Travel biz
Link- https://travelbizmonitor.com/greg-ohara-to-take-over-as-chair-of-wttc/