The Life of a CEO
- What drives the CEO of a travel management company?
- How can you have a successful career in business travel?
- What might the future of the travel industry look like?
Our CEO Suzanne Horner recently chatted to Paul Richer on the ‘Parlez with Paul’ webinar series from the Travel Technology Initiative (TTI). The candid interview took viewers on a journey through Suzanne’s remarkable career, focusing on her rise through the travel industry ranks and the philosophies for success she defined along the way.
Suzanne spoke openly about her formative roles in travel at Airtours and British Airways and how, in 2011, she joined Gray Dawes with the promise of generating a turnover of £100m in five years. It was a bold statement, but not without conviction. After just four years, Gray Dawes’ turnover increased from £28m to hit the £100m target.
But her ambition didn’t stop there. As a self-confessed straight-talking businesswoman who likes to set tough goals and achieve them, Suzanne has steered Gray Dawes to an annual turnover of £250m and overseen the development of a new, global strategy which focuses on offering a service that ‘follows the sun’.
Watch Now
Watch the interview to hear Suzanne’s advice for aspiring leaders, her take on the future of AI-driven travel technology, and her insights into company growth after acquiring offices in Sydney, Melbourne, and Miami.
TRAVEL TALKS
If you like webinars, then be sure to check out Travel Talks. It’s our very own webinar series in which we discuss all the latest business travel trends and topics.
Each episode offers insight, how-to’s and top tips on subjects such as building traveller confidence, implementing a sustainable travel policy, creating successful corporate travel programmes and more! It’s even available as podcast to listen to on the move.
Related Articles
What is the True Value of a TMC?
A recent article from The Business Travel Magazine claims that Travel Management Companies (TMCs) like Gray Dawes are struggling to provide value for their clients. However, at Gray Dawes, we respectfully and heartily disagree… After all, not all TMCs are created equally. Tarring everyone with the same brush only serves to devalue the brilliant work and innovative thinking that organisations such as ours bring to the industry. In this article, we take a deeper look at the “Value Proposition” piece from the Business Travel Magazine and demonstrate how we are genuinely doing things differently.
How the Paris Olympics 2024 will Impact Business Travel (And What You Can Do About It)
The Olympic Games are heading to Paris in July. Over 10,000 athletes will be throwing, swimming, running, cycling, and more for the chance to grab a gold medal and write themselves into the annals of Olympic history. But with an estimated 15 million visitors planning to head to the event according to the Paris je t’aime tourist office, travelling to and within Europe for work will almost certainly be affected. In this article, we take a look at how the Paris Olympics 2024 might impact business travel and offer our expert tips and advice to help you keep your trip on course.
A New Traveller’s Guide to Better Business Trips
As a new business traveller, going on a business trip can be a daunting prospect. You are expected to ingratiate yourself with people from different cultures and embrace new ways of working. But it is also a highly rewarding experience in which you might meet lifelong connections and find opportunities to advance your career. In this article, we give our top tips to making the most of a business trip both before you leave and during your visit.