The leadership additions bolster the agency’s reach and capabilities in driving direct, profitable growth for tour and attraction operators.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – TourismSolved, a digital marketing agency dedicated to helping tour and attraction suppliers drive direct bookings and profitable growth, announced the addition of three new partners with extensive experience in travel, digital marketing, and eCommerce.
The new partners, all formerly of Tripadvisor, are: Andrew Aley, VP of Business Development EMEA, James Moore, VP of Business Development Americas and APAC, and Michael Lattig, Head of Brand and eCommerce.
They join the agency’s existing partners – Robin Harnish, Simon van Wyk, and Jeff Lewis – to bring more than 50 years of travel industry experience and decades of digital marketing expertise to bear in helping tour and activity operators navigate the increasingly complex digital landscape and unlock new, profitable paths to growth at a transformational time for the travel industry.
“With international travel all but paused, operators have an opportunity to rethink how they grow their business and to create a much more favorable eCommerce environment for themselves,” said Robin Harnish, Co-founder and Head of Operations at TourismSolved.
“With these new partners on board, we have the firepower to help tour and activity operators maximize this unique opportunity by efficiently growing their share of direct bookings and optimizing their channel relationships with a focus on profitability.”
The firm has seen early success with its approach for clients in Australia, where TourismSolved is based. This includes helping one client, Cape Byron Kayaks, match last year’s booking volume during the country’s winter holiday period while greatly increasing profitability. This was accomplished with a two-pronged strategy of attracting local travelers and helping Cape Byron Kayaks capture a significantly higher percentage of direct bookings.
“The global pandemic has been devastating for many tour and activity operators, but it has also created an opportunity for them to take greater control of their business by marketing themselves directly rather than relying on third parties,” said Simon van Wyk, Head of Agency at TourismSolved. “With our early success, we’ve shown that operators can greatly
increase profitability while maintaining their past volumes. And we’ve shown this at one of the worst moments, historically, for the travel industry.”
The new partners will be tasked with expanding the agency’s global reach and working closely with tour and activity operators to find growth in the current, pandemic-driven landscape while developing the marketing and eCommerce strategies that will allow them to thrive once international travel resumes.
Andrew Aley: Joining as Vice President of Business Development, EMEA, Andrew has spent over a decade helping travel companies grow their businesses. This includes more than 7 years at Viator/Tripadvisor, where Andrew was Regional Director, EMEA, helping tour operators expand their global footprint and revenue. Andrew also has extensive media industry experience, positioning him to help tour and attraction operators navigate the complex digital marketing landscape.
James Moore: Joining as Vice President of Business Development, Americas and APAC, James has worked in travel for the last 14 years, most of which he spent as a leading sales exec at Tripadvisor working with a list of clients that included Disney, Wynn Resorts, Hard Rock Hotels, Cirque du Soleil, Warner Bros. Studio Tours, Singapore Airlines, Alaska Air, Cathay Pacific, Virgin America, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Hornblower Cruises, among many others.
Michael Lattig: Joining as Head of Brand and eCommerce, Michael brings two decades of integrated marketing, brand building, and ecommerce experience to TourismSolved, including the past two years as Head of Brand Marketing at Viator/Tripadvisor. Prior to that Michael held a number of marketing leadership positions, including CMO at StubHub, where he helped it become the world’s largest and most trusted ticket marketplace, and Creative Director for an independent, integrated marketing agency in San Francisco.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.