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The World Travel & Tourism Council has announced Greg O’Hara, founder and Senior Managing Director of Certares Management LLC, as its incoming new Chair. 

O’Hara, who will take over the position later this month, has been a member of WTTC’s Executive Committee since 2019, and Vice Chair since 2021. 

He will follow current Chairman, Arnold Donald, former President & Chief Executive of Carnival Corporation, who has been in the position since the spring of 2021. 

Prior to forming Certares, one of the largest investment platforms dedicated to travel and tourism, O’Hara served as Chief Investment Officer of JPMorgan Chase's Special Investments Group. He is the Chairman of American Express Global Business Travel and serves on the Board of Directors of TripAdvisor.

O’Hara has previously served on the Boards of Directors of Worldspan, Hertz Global Holdings, Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings, Singer Vehicle Design, and the Innocence Project.

Addressing delegates at the global tourism body’s 23rd Global Summit in Kigali, Julia Simpson, WTTC President & Chief Executive shared “Firstly I would like to thank Arnold for his enormous contribution to WTTC, his unwavering dedication and exceptional leadership during his tenure.

“We now embark on a new chapter, and I am delighted to welcome Greg as our new Chairman. Greg will bring a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the Travel & Tourism sector, and I believe that under his stewardship, WTTC will reach new heights in a sector that is growing faster than the global economy.” 

Donald added “It has been an honour to serve my fellow WTTC Members as Chair. Our Members’ collective efforts, facilitated through private and public partnerships, have proven critical to the recovery of our sector from the economic and human effects of COVID. We are now on a path of responsible and sustainable exceptional growth for Travel & Tourism worldwide.

“Of course, the tremendous progress achieved across all fronts would not have been possible without the strong foundation I inherited, Julia’s leadership, and the hard work of our WTTC staff. It has been a pleasure serving our Members and working with Julia and her team over the past several years.

“As my term comes to an end, I am delighted to be passing the torch to Greg, a strong contributing WTTC Member and a distinguished global leader in the Travel & Tourism sector.”

looking forward to his new role, O’Hara commented “It is a great privilege to pick up the reins from Arnold Donald – a giant of our sector. I look forward to supporting our Members, WTTC and Julia, as the sector continues to go from strength to strength.” 

Under this new leadership, WTTC and its Members look forward to steering the global Travel & Tourism sector towards a brighter and more sustainable future. 

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