Travel Leaders Group has named J.D. O'Hara president. In the
newly-created role, he will oversee and work with the various Travel Leaders
Group brand presidents to address the needs of each division. He also will enhance
services and profitability to the company’s travel advisors and member agencies
and drive growth in select strategic markets. He will report to Travel Leaders
Group CEO Ninan Chacko.
O’Hara joins from a role as senior partner at Certares, which
owns a majority stake in Travel Leaders, and he's no stranger to Travel Leaders,
having been part of the original management buyout of Carlson Leisure Group
from Carlson Cos. in 2008. O'Hara sat on Travel Leaders' board while at
Certares and has overseen Travel Leaders investments, including the acquisitions
of Tzell Travel Group, Nexion Travel Group, Vacation.com and Protravel
International, as well as its recent merger with Altour. O'Hara also helped the
company expand beyond
its core U.S. footprint, overseeing acquisitions of the Mexico-based Corporate
Travel Services and U.K.-based agencies Colletts Travel and Barrhead
Travel.