Bruce Hodge, Founder and President of Goway Travel, has announced the appointment of John Feenaghty to the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer, commencing early in 2018.
As COO, Feenaghty will focus on the development of a long-term plan which includes the gradual exit (retirement) of Hodge. He is tasked with growth in all areas of the company (spear-headed by an anticipated surge in UK-Europe), and the ultimate development of a North American program. The latter will mean Goway offers “the world,” and includes plans to open wholesale offices in Australia and the UK.
“During my time in the USA, I was well aware of Goway, and am looking forward to moving back to North America to assume this role for such a well-respected company,” commented Feenaghty.
Feenaghty will also oversee the rise of Adam and Bronwyn Hodge, as they assume senior leadership roles in the business.
“All I see are opportunities,” said Hodge “I only wish I was 10 years younger.”
John Feenaghty is a travel industry professional, with 25 years’ experience across a variety of industry fields. John’s most recent tenure has been with the Flight Centre Travel Group in Australia where he held a number of senior roles over his 14 years with the publicly listed company. His broad experience covers retail, wholesale, product, e-commerce, operations and marketing.
Starting out in the RAAF as a flight steward nearly 30 years ago, John moved from hospitality to travel, with a career at the Queensland Government Travel Centre in Brisbane. A few years followed with Thomas Cook retail, Sunlover Holidays, and a short stint in the USA with an Australian travel specialist. In 2003, he took over the Marketing division of Flight Centre’s emerging wholesale brand Infinity Holidays for several years. This evolved into many key roles across the company, including GM of Quickbeds.com, SVP Product & Marketing at Liberty Travel (USA based) and GM of Product & Marketing with the Infinity Group.
John has a passion for travel, the industry, customer experience, and the positive impact of travel on society. John has a double major degree in Marketing & Management from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. He is married with two adult children and one spoilt dog.