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Former Telecom chief operating officer Kevin Kenrick was yesterday appointed chief executive of House of Travel, the country's largest privately owned travel company.
The chief executive role is new for House of Travel, which noted there was speculation Kenrick would head a large publicly listed company.
However, Kenrick said it had been an easy decision when he was offered the position with House of Travel.
"The innovation and sustained growth achieved by House of Travel in such a challenging environment is a real testament to the people involved and one of the key things that attracted me to the business."
He said that with turnover of $800 million this year and projected at $925 million for 2008 it ranked in the top 10 privately owned companies in the country for turnover.
Kenrick is part of a clean-out of top executives at Telecom since the Government decided to force the telco to open its network to rivals and following the appointment of Scotsman Paul Reynolds to replace Theresa Gattung as chief executive.
Kenrick disputed claims that travel agencies' role was declining as a result of the popularity of internet booking.
He said House of Travel had had growth of 20 per cent year on year for the past four years.
Kenrick said he had done his research on the company and that had only reinforced his initial impressions. "One international company told me that House of Travel was reinventing the role and value of a travel agent."
Chris Paulsen, founder and managing director of the 20 year-old company said he was not stepping away from the business, but would take up a newly created role as executive deputy chairman.
He said it was difficult and unrealistic for him to manage day-to-day aspects of the business, in addition to working on future strategy.
Kenrick will take up his new role on February 1 next year and will be based in Auckland.
House of Travel has 90 retail outlets and employs 1100 staff.
- NZPA
