Great article by Simon Altham on the challenges that he sees ahead in his new role. I believe these challenges are faced by most travel businesses. I also agree that AI is going to be a big disruptor. Many sophisticated travel businesses now employ teams of data scientists, as data becomes more and more important. But I do believe that travel remains an exciting career choice even for digitally skilled candidates.
Simon Altham was handed a new role at Wyndham this year as managing director of revenue across the UK portfolio. Artificial intelligence, a lack of talent in travel and misperceptions about UK holidays are key concerns for Simon Altham. Addressing all three are among his priorities as he completes his first three months as managing director of revenue, looking after sales, marketing, operations and the commercial performance of the whole Wyndham UK business. The group has appointed a managing director of digital, Nick Rudge, who will look after tech integrations, database platforms and Wyndham UK’s relationships with Google, but Altham is keen to ensure he does his bit to ensure the group is ready for the looming ‘machine learning’ era. “The speed of the advance of technology is one of the biggest challenges facing business owners today,” he says.
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