Former TQ3 Travel Solutions president and CEO Marc Hildebrand on Nov. 1 will join American Express as vice president and general manager for Central Europe, reporting to David Herrick, Amex's vice president and head of business travel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Hildebrand was the global chief of TQ3 from its birth in 2001 until most of the operation was bought by BCD Holdings in January 2006 and merged into the new BCD Travel. The TQ3 name continued briefly under the ownership of U.S. company Navigant but finally disappeared when Carlson Wagonlit Travel bought Navigant a few months later
(BTN, May 1).
Hildebrand will be based in Frankfurt and is charged with making Amex the market leader in Central Europe. Thanks to its TQ3 heritage, BCD currently is the runaway number-one travel management company in Germany. HRG also is a strong player in the central European region, especially in Switzerland.
"Amex has always been the benchmark company for everyone in the industry," said Hildebrand. "When Charles Petruccelli [Amex president of global services] and David invited me to join, it didn't take much thinking about."
Former TQ3 head of global sales Benjo van Laarhoven also is joining Amex, reporting to Hildebrand with responsibility for sales and account management.