My career in tourism goes back many years. After completing my studies at the "National University of Tourism & Transport" in Breda/Holland, I learnt the practical side of the business as Product Manager Car Tours at the tour operator NBBS Reizen. 

My desire to have my own company led to the founding of TRAVEL PARTNER in Ellmau/Tyrol in 1985.
With a great deal of commitment, but also passion, creativity, foresight, fairness, loyalty and skill, TRAVEL PARTNER has developed into one of the largest incomers in Central Europe during this period. 

But none of this would have been possible without a fantastic team of employees. Because we will always remain a "people's business" and we can only be successful together. Over the years, we have been able to prove this with the "Tirol-Touristica" in 1997, winner of "Austria's Leading Companies" in 2014 and other awards.

In 2017, I retired from the management and my business partner Michael Poot took over this role. However, I am delighted to continue to be part of this wonderful company and to be involved in developments, strategies, solutions and investments so that TRAVEL PARTNER can be an even better and more successful incoming partner for our service providers and customers.

Let's make dreams come true together!

My journey in tourism began in 1992 and has taken me on an exciting path that is now characterized by valuable expertise and experience. I have had the privilege of working for well-known companies such as Alltours, TUI and FTI, where I laid the foundations for my professional career.

In 2003, I joined the exciting world of TRAVEL PARTNER, initially in hotel purchasing and then in sales. The years passed and in 2006 I was given the special trust to take on the position of COO within the management team. In 2017, I took over the position of CEO for the entire group of companies. 

During my long professional journey, I have learnt one thing: in the tourism industry, our colleagues are the heart of every company. The relationships with our suppliers and customers are the foundation of a company's success.

My daily work consists of developing future-orientated strategies and innovations for our company. I am convinced that tourism is constantly changing and it is our job to find the right paths into the future. At the same time, it is of great importance to me to manage our company in an economically stable manner in order to ensure the long-term and sustainable success of the entire organisation.

I look forward to continuing our journey together at TRAVEL PARTNER and shaping the future of tourism together with our dedicated team. Our passion for travelling and our pursuit of excellence drives us to reach new heights.

Welcome to our journey at TRAVEL PARTNER!

Since joining TRAVEL PARTNER in 2013 as Finance Director, I have been fascinated by the constant change and innovation in the tourism industry. My lateral entry into the tourism industry with a background in controlling, HR management and business law, as well as my professional experience from various industries, has enriched me with many exciting and positive experiences.

A significant step in my professional development was my appointment as Managing Director in 2016, which reflected the trust of our shareholders. As Managing Director focussing on Finance and Human Resources, it is my job to ensure that financial and human resources are used economically in line with our corporate goals. In doing so, we attach great importance to creating flexible framework conditions, high management quality and the development of needs-oriented training programmes.

In an industry that is characterized by high dynamics, a corporate culture that has grown over many years and a diverse workforce and business partners, TRAVEL PARTNER offers one of the most attractive and modern working environments in tourism. We look forward to sharing this passion and innovation with you and moving into the future together. 

Welcome to TRAVEL PARTNER!
 

Our purchasing department consists of a highly motivated team that focuses exclusively on the procurement of hotels and additional services. We conclude contracts with all tourism suppliers for the FIT and group sector. Our long-standing personal relationships with our suppliers are our top priority and ensure that we receive particularly favourable conditions that strengthen our competitiveness. Our purchasers are mainly based in the respective destinations and work mainly in the field. This means that we are very familiar with each hotel or excursion provider - both in terms of their offers, services and quality as well as personally.

Our purchasing team is supported by a back office team. This team checks the purchasing contracts, systematically enters texts and images for the respective products and ensures that the products are handed over to our sales teams in the FIT and group area digitally within our system world in high quality.
 

Our company's IT department plays a crucial role in ensuring smooth operations and efficient communication in our organization. With a strong focus on digitalization and the technology for seamless integration with our partner companies, including tour operators and hotels, we are the engine behind our shared success at TRAVEL PARTNER. 

Our dedicated IT experts are responsible for the technological innovation, management, maintenance and updating of our systems in-house and in the cloud. We ensure that our teams have access to the latest hardware and software to make their daily tasks more efficient and support them in the digital transformation processes - whether in the office or in the home office. Additionally, we are proud to maintain strong partnerships with our event organizers and hotels as well as IT suppliers. 

Our IT department ensures smooth data transfer and communication between our systems and those of our partners. This allows us to process bookings in real time, provide availability and prices and continually optimize our services. Our IT team is also responsible for the security and privacy of our systems. We use the latest security measures to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of our data and to meet the requirements of data protection regulations. We work passionately to create the digital foundation for our company. 

We are proud to continually improve existing and new technology for our partners and colleagues.

In Business Development, we act as a driving force for the future development and expansion of our corporate activities. Our main task is to plan and implement strategic initiatives that drive growth and diversification in our business areas. We focus on the development of new products, markets and sales channels in order to promote the positioning and expansion of our tourism products in an innovative way.

The way we work involves thoroughly analysing market trends, customer needs and the competitive landscape. This enables us to identify promising opportunities for expansion and diversities. Based on these findings, we develop targeted purchasing and sales strategies that help to increase the visibility and success of our entrepreneurial innovations.

We are establishing relationships with potential new distribution partners and suppliers. In doing so, we aim to create synergies within our purchasing and sales departments, leveraging each other's strengths.
An integral aspect of our operations involves continuously gathering feedback from existing distribution partners. This feedback is instrumental in continuously optimizing our products and services, adapting them to evolving market demands.

Through our continuous strategic planning and implementation of creative ideas, we significantly contribute to the creation of new travel destinations, tourism offerings, and innovative services.

Our foremost goal is to actively drive TRAVEL PARTNER's growth strategy and establish the company as a pioneer in the industry.

Our FIT sales department in the B2B and digital area consists of a team of motivated travel experts who have extensive industry knowledge and also know the destinations and offers. This is where the hotel and additional services contracted by our purchasing team are prepared for sale and offered to our tour operators for their individual sales activities. 

Our sales department acts as a crucial link to our tour operators operating throughout Europe. A continuous, almost daily dialogue with our sales partners is of central importance to us. This enables us to better understand the needs of our tour operators/customers and to fulfill their individual requirements in the form of suitable hotel products and additional services of a high quality. 

In this area, we create a wide range of tourism products based on the hotel and additional services produced in the purchasing department, from pure hotel offers to creative package offers (hotel plus additional service) to detailed, multi-day round trips, including calculated prices, texts and images. 

Depending on the wishes of our sales partners, we work on long, medium and short-term product placements.

Our group sales team is made up of highly creative minds with extensive knowledge of the destinations in the countries we offer. We offer specially designed travel ideas for group tour operators in the form of a digital catalogue and on our TRAVEL PARTNER group website. 

Through our diverse product concepts, we provide innovative travel offers to our customers. These offers can be taken directly from the tour operator or customized according to your wishes in the form of a modular principle depending on the destination. 

A continuous, direct exchange with our co-operation partners and our purchasing department is crucial for us in order to give the best possible advice to meet customers' requirements. The entire TRAVEL PARTNER group offer is extremely diverse and ranges from nature experiences and active holidays to round trips, music events, culinary tours and lots more. 

With our team, we organize over 2,000 successful group tours for our customers every year with a high level of satisfaction and therefore know exactly how to make a trip a special experience.

TRAVEL PARTNER's Operations team handles with precision the processing of bookings generated by our FIT and Group Sales departments. This department works in close cooperation with our suppliers (hotels/service providers) and our customers (tour operators) and is a central and indispensable link for a carefree holiday for tour operator guests. All operational aspects required for the smooth realisation of our tourism offers are coordinated within the Operations department. This includes booking accommodation, organising transport, activities and excursions as well as ensuring quality standards and dealing with any challenges on site. Our top priority is to provide all holiday guests with a seamless and memorable travel experience while managing processes and procedures efficiently and professionally.

Our team is passionate, motivated, creative and responsible for creating a consistent and engaging look and feel for our organisation both internally and externally. We understand the importance of a consistent brand identity that accurately reflects our values, offerings and uniqueness.

Our responsibilities span a wide range of activities aimed at strengthening our presence and communicating our messages effectively. This includes coordinating trade fair appearances, designing appealing catalogues, maintaining our company website, planning and implementing events, creating appealing newsletters and ensuring the quality and implementation of our social media presence. 

Finally, we keep a close eye on the latest trends and developments in the field of marketing. We know that innovation and digitalisation are the key to success and are committed to understanding these trends and integrating them into our strategies in order to remain relevant and modern in the market.

Our highly motivated client billing department is made up of a dedicated team of employees who are responsible for the smooth processing and monitoring of all incoming payments from tour operator partners.

The team consists of invoicing specialists, all of whom have extensive financial and customer service knowledge. We work closely with the company's various departments to ensure that all booked trips are billed correctly and payments are properly allocated. This is crucial to ensure our tour operators pay on time and correctly.

In addition, we pursue clear objectives that enable us to measure our success. This includes invoicing accuracy rates, timely processing of payments, and effective resolution of payment discrepancies. We are also in direct contact with our customers to answer and ensure their questions about billing and payment.

The client billing department is an indispensable part of our company that helps ensure the smooth flow of all incoming payments.

Our great team in the accounting department consists of precise professionals who diligently ensure that all financial transactions are accurately recorded and verified. We specialise in checking both the formal and substantive aspects of incoming and outgoing invoices. This includes the complete monitoring and recording of financial data. 

We prepare regular reports for management on key accounting figures that serve as a basis for sound business decisions. We are also responsible for the timely preparation and submission of tax returns. Part of our daily work is the regular reconciliation of accounts and the execution of bank transfers. We not only prepare the monthly key financial figures, but also the raw balance sheet, which forms a crucial basis for the long-term planning and management of our company. 

We also take care of cost accounting and the allocation of expenditure to the respective departments. This analysis enables us to understand cost structures and identify potential savings.

We are also responsible for the correct processing of salary payments and the accurate recording of working hours. We focus on punctuality and accuracy to ensure that our colleagues always receive their remuneration on time and without errors.

Our department is very conscientious and endeavours to ensure financial integrity and stability. Through a sense of responsibility, we contribute significantly to the smooth running of financial processes and ensure that our company operates on a sound financial basis.

Our dedicated Master Data department takes care of the precise management and creation of supplier and customer data, accurately recording all detailed information. This includes contact details and all tax-related information that is important for a smooth business relationship.

A key part of our role is configuring the system settings for supplier and customer billing. We ensure that these settings are set correctly to guarantee an error-free billing process. Accuracy is of paramount importance in our department, as precise working methods and system accuracy form the basis of our success.

Our work ensures that all relevant data is up to date and enables smooth transactions. Our accurate and meticulous approach ensures that business processes are systemised correctly to ensure efficient collaboration with suppliers and customers.

Our team in the service provider department is responsible for the accurate processing and timely payment of all tourism services. We are the hub for the financial processing that underlines the quality of our services.

Our tasks include the thorough review of all supplier invoices to ensure that they are financially correct. If necessary, we request corrections from suppliers to ensure accurate invoicing. In addition, we maintain a continuous dialogue with our partners to clarify any queries regarding payments already made.

Our work ensures that all business transactions are processed correctly and transparently. Through our precision and communication, we help to build strong relationships with our business partners while maintaining the financial integrity of our organisation.

The Human Resources (HR) department at Travel Partner covers a wide range of diverse tasks and responsibilities aimed at looking after and developing the heart of our company - its employees. 
The main tasks in the HR department include
Recruiting and talent acquisition: this includes creating and publishing job advertisements, interviewing candidates, making selection decisions and submitting job offers. An effective onboarding program for new employees is developed and implemented to ensure a smooth start at the company.
Training and employee development: The HR department identifies the training needs of employees and promotes their professional development through internal and external training programs.
Documentation and administration: This includes the careful maintenance and updating of personnel files and the tracking of leave days and applications. Creating employment contracts and policies to govern the working relationship is also key.
Employee retention and satisfaction: We are constantly working to create a positive working environment in which our colleagues feel very comfortable and engaged. - Strategic HR planning: We are in regular dialogue with all in-house departments and play a key role in the company's long-term HR development strategy and plan how our future employee needs can be met.
Data analysis and reporting: Our HR department analyses HR data to identify trends and patterns that can support management in making strategic decisions. It also produces reports for management to ensure transparency and insight into employee performance and development.
Overall, the Travel Partner HR department plays a critical role in managing and maintaining a company's most important asset - its people - and contributes significantly to the success and development of the organization.

Our reception department is the warm and professional face of our company. We are your initial point of contact and prioritize leaving a positive first impression. Our mission is to welcome visitors, customers, suppliers, and employees alike, ensuring everyone feels well taken care of in our space. We assist our departments with administrative tasks such as handling incoming and outgoing mail and packages, directing calls to the appropriate departments, and ensuring timely message delivery.

Our reception department is more than just a place of reception; it's an integral part of our company that contributes to smooth operations and a positive impression. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to approach us. We look forward to helping you and welcoming you to our company.