Former VP of global consulting at American Express Global Business Travel, Caroline Strachan, is taking up a role of NDC Business Travel Envoy for IATA during 2016.
Strachan, who joined travel and meetings engagement agency Festive Road in November, will join partner Paul Tilstone at IATA, who will retain his role as an envoy for the organisation.
They will co-ordinate a project which will see a stepped up process of engagement with the business travel community during the year. The pair will specifically focus on dialogue between IATA and corporate travel buyers, Travel Management Companies (TMCs) and technology aggregators.
Talking about the project, Strachan said: “It has become clear to me that personalisation and richer content offer a plethora of opportunities for our industry.
“To have the chance to be at the heart of that opportunity and help shape a better industry is something I relish.
“The timing is perfect for buyers and the supply chain to work better together if we approach this right. Having worked across different links in the business travel supply chain, from buyer to TMC to association, I have seen first-hand what fantastic results you can achieve through better collaboration.”
Yanik Hoyles, IATA Director NDC Program, said: “When we knew that Caroline was joining Paul (Tilstone) to lead their partnership deeper into engagement services, we saw a great opportunity to enhance our work with the business travel community.
“We’ve seen a real sea change in opinion regarding NDC in the last year and it’s a good time to build on that and make sure the business travel sector grasps the opportunity at hand.”