Ian Sinderson, Chief Executive Officer at ATPI, is stepping down after six years in the CEO role and 27 years with the group.
He leaves three months after ATPI was acquired by its longstanding US-based strategic partner Direct Travel.
Sinderson was with the business from the start when, along with Graham Ramsey, he acquired
Seaforths Travel in the UK and Ticket Window and laid the foundations for what has become ATPI /TripStax and the international ATPI Group.
Writing on LinkedIn, Sinderson said: “I don’t think either of us imagined that the business would grow to the size and diversity it has today. ATPI is now 50 times bigger than the business we acquired back in 1998!”
Sinderson it has been a “pleasure and privilege” to be part of the development of ATPI and to “provide leadership to bring the business to the prominent position it now holds in the travel industry”.
“It has also been a real joy to see many people I have known for a long time dedicate a significant part of their careers and working lives to build ATPI with me, and to share and live the values that the business is now known and respected for,” he added.
“As with all things in life, the last nearly 30 years have been a rollercoaster. There have been many exciting phases, for example when we brought the Instone Group and the Griffin Group into the ATPI family, the purchase of Voyager in Australia, Hamburg Sud in Germany and Fast Travel in Italy. In addition, the technology our teams have developed over that period has been market leading in so many respects and has been the bedrock of the success of the operations of the group.
“The move of this technology into the TripStax business also hopefully will allow it to thrive in the future. The work that the commercial teams have done in promoting the ATPI brand has also been a true success story, from a best kept secret to a true global player.”
He said recent opening of offices in a number of APAC countries, including China, Taiwan and South Korea, have also been highlights, along with the phenomenal progress of the ICE /WSC centres in Philippines and Mumbai.
“There have also been some really challenging times, the most recent one of course being the Covid pandemic, but one of the things that I have felt most proud of is that ATPI has always come out of these challenging times in a stronger position than it entered them. That is because ATPI is a service led, people business that understands their clients and their needs, and ‘delivers what really matters’ to them. The ATPI team have all shown amazing resilience and determination,” he said.
“With the sale of ATPI to Direct Travel, my tenure as CEO is now at an end, and I wish the ATPI team all around the world the best of fortunes as part of the new Group as I will embark on a new path.”
“Ian Sinderson departed the business as part of the broader integration of ATPI and Direct Travel. We are grateful for his leadership and the impact he had in growing ATPI and strengthening its global client relationships, and we wish him well in his next chapter.
Christal Bemont, CEO of Direct Travel, now has overall responsibility for the combined global business.
A spokesman for the group said there are no other changes planned to the senior executive team as part of the acquisition.
