Former Diethelm Travel Group CEO Richard Brouwer will become CEO of Khiri Travel, effective 4 January 2016. The appointment was made by Willem Niemeijer, former CEO of Khiri Travel who will now become the Chairman of the company.
“Richard’s appointment is a major statement by Khiri Travel. It underscores Khiri Travel’s ambition to grow while staying true to its commitment to responsible tourism,” said Niemeijer.
The Khiri Travel Chairman added: “Under Richard’s leadership, Khiri Travel’s mission and vision will remain the same – to be the best DMC in Asia and the champion of the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.”
Brouwer brings to Khiri a comprehensive regional and global network of contacts and over 25 years of professional experience in the travel industry, most of it in the C-suite of leading travel and hospitality brands in Asia.
On his new CEO post at Khiri Travel, Brouwer said: “I have admired Khiri Travel’s achievements in responsible tourism over the last few years. I aim to work closely with the Khiri Travel country teams to help them grow their business. We will do this by staying true to Khiri Travel’s commitment to responsible tourism."
Brouwer was COO of Diethelm Travel, the largest DMC in Southeast Asia, for six years to 2012, then CEO 2012-2015. Prior to joining Diethelm Travel in 2000, he had an 11-year executive career at Amari Hotels and Resorts as Corporate Director Sales & Marketing and Group Marketing Manager.
Khiri Travel’s new CEO is a graduate of the Hotel Management School (The Hague) and has additional qualifications from Cornell University (New York), the Hotel School Lausanne (Switzerland) and the Advanced Management Programme at INSEAD (Paris).
Brouwer, a native Dutch speaker, is fluent in English and German and proficient in French and Thai. He is married, has a daughter and lives in Bangkok.