After a year dedicated to rebuilding following its acquisition by Navigatr Group, Ensemble has announced several executive appointments and organizational changes as the company advances to the next phase of its strategic plan.
Ensemble President Michael Johnson. (Photo Credit: Ensemble)
“We have been laser focused on building the new Ensemble over the past year with a priority on acquiring and developing some of the industry’s top talent,” said Michael Johnson, President of Ensemble.
“This deliberate approach and strategy have already enabled us to deliver an improved and consistent experience to our members and partners alike and with these new team members we are primed to advance Ensemble's growth and realize our vision of shaping the consortium of the future,” Johnson adds.
Beth Butzlaff, Ensemble's new Senior Vice President Global Partner Relations. (Photo Credit: Ensemble Travel Group)
Beth Butzlaff has joined Ensemble as Senior Vice President Global Partner Relations. She brings extensive experience and valuable industry relationships with key supplier partners to her new role, including her most recent position as Vice President of Global Partnership Engagement at Global Travel Collection, a division of Internova Travel Group encompassing a collection of international luxury travel agencies.
In that role, Butzlaff developed and executed programs that grew the company’s production and influence within cruise, tour, hotel, insurance, specialty, and tourism boards segments. In addition, she spearheaded global expansion in the cruise vertical and extended those efforts into all travel verticals throughout the world. Prior to that, she had been Vice President of Global Partner Relations at Virtuoso for 14 years during which time she was responsible for the creation of several new partner programs.
Concurrently, Jennifer Dzialo, Senior Vice President of Partner Relations, has moved to Ensemble’s parent company Navigatr Group to support growth across all Navigatr brands with a focus on cultivating strategic partner relationships to drive multiple distribution models and improve outcomes across all travel verticals.
Shelly Ransom, Ensemble's new Vice President of New Agency Business Development. (Photo Credit: Ensemble Travel Group)
In a newly created role, Shelly Ransom joins Ensemble as Vice President of New Agency Business Development. Ransom was most recently at Hyatt where she led the Distribution team managing partnership negotiations and strategy with agencies, OTA's and Tour Operators.
With nearly 30 years in the travel industry, Ransom has also held positions leading Consortia and Agency Partnerships for Starwood, Wyndham and Marriott. She also spent over 10 years on the agency side, most notably at AAA leading their lodging and airline partnership program.
Joining Ransom in this new area is Ron Bentley who will focus on agency acquisition. Bentley most recently served as Vice President of Member Relations. Mark Stubbert will assume the role as Vice President of Member Relations. He previously held positions focusing on advisor services at Travel Edge Network and Carlson Wagonlit.
Over the past year, Ensemble has doubled the size of its team while simultaneously introducing numerous new programs across all disciplines including operations, marketing, training and development, and all verticals including hotel, cruise, air and DMC.
Ensemble Executive Chairman David Harris. (Photo Credit: Ensemble)
Concurrent with the new appointments and in keeping with its post-acquisition strategy, David Harris, who led Ensemble through the pandemic and the acquisition process and most recently served as Executive Chairman, will transition out of his role.
TravelPulse Canada will be on hand when Ensemble will convene the entire consortium for the first time at its Horizons by Ensemble event at Paris Las Vegas from November 2-6.
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