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Group Management Board

Peter Long
Chief Executive

Peter Long joined the Board of TUI Travel PLC on 28 June 2007. In November 1996 he was appointed Group Managing Director of First Choice Holidays PLC and became Chief Executive in September 1999. Prior to joining First Choice, he was Chief Executive of Sunworld Holidays, having previously been Finance Director then Chief Executive of the tour operating division of the International Leisure Group. 

From February 2001 to June 2005 Peter was a Non-Executive Director of RAC plc, and from April 2006 to July 2009 he was a Non-Executive Director of Debenhams plc. Peter is currently the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of Rentokil Initial Plc.

Paul Bowtell
Chief Financial Officer

Paul Bowtell joined the Board of TUI Travel PLC on 28 June 2007. He was appointed to the Board of First Choice Holidays PLC in September 2004 as Group Finance Director and was previously the Finance Director of British Gas, a subsidiary of Centrica plc, where he had been since January 2002. Prior to that, he was with W H Smith plc where he held a number of corporate centre roles before becoming the Finance Director of the UK Retail business.

He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. In November 2007 Paul was appointed a Non-Executive Director of SThree PLC.

Dermot Blastland
Managing Director, UK & Ireland

Dermot Blastland is a member of the TUI Travel PLC Group Management Board and Managing Director – Mainstream UK & Ireland. Dermot previously held positions as Managing Director of First Choice Holidays & Flights, Ski, Lakes & Mountains and President of Signature Vacations. Prior to joining First Choice in February 1988, he was Commercial Director at Thomson and subsequently Managing Director of Portland Holidays.

Dr. Volker Böttcher 
Managing Director, Central Europe

After an early career in law, Volker joined Touristik Union International in 1987 as a legal advisor. Having occupied various management positions, he became head of TUI's Special Programmes Division in 1996 which included responsibility for long-haul destinations, city tours and the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2003 Volker was appointed Chairman for Central Europe for TUI AG, being responsible for all tourism activities in the source markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland. He was appointed to the board of TUI Deutschland GmbH in April 2000. Following the restructuring of TUI's business model in Germany, he was appointed CEO of TUI Deutschland GmbH in July 2001. Volker joined the Board of TUI Travel PLC on 19 June 2007.

Bart Brackx 
Managing Director, Western Europe

Bart Brackx started his professional career at the tour operator Jetair and in 1994 went on to become Managing Director of Internal Affairs. Since 2001, he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer and President of the Board of Directors of Jetair. In 2004, Bart was appointed Chief Executive of TUI Belgium and went on to become divisional director of TUI AG in charge of the Western Europe source market prior to becoming Managing Director - Mainstream Western Europe at TUI Travel PLC.

Andrew John 
Group Legal Director & Company Secretary

Andrew John is a Solicitor who practised with the City law firm of Coward Chance prior to taking up a career in industry. He held the post of Director, Legal Affairs at Unisys Limited followed by various senior legal and commercial positions at Vickers PLC, which culminated in his appointment to the Vickers Board in 1994 as Commercial Director and Company Secretary. In that role he led several high profile acquisitions and disposals. Prior to his current role at TUI Travel PLC, Andrew had been at First Choice since December 2000.

Bill Logan
Group Human Resources Director

Bill Logan started in industrial relations. He then developed his HR career in international roles with Seagram Inc London, New York and Hong Kong. Having attended the Strategic HR Programme at Stanford University, he joined First Choice in 1998 to support the Group’s international HR development, following which he became Group HR Director at TUI Travel PLC.

Johan Lundgren
Managing Director, Northern Region

Johan was appointed to the Board of TUI Travel PLC on 21 December 2007. He has worked in the Nordic tourism industry for almost twenty years, ten of which have been as a Managing Director. Between 1999 and 2001, he was President of Sunquest Vacations in Canada. Johan went on to become Chief Executive of TUI Nordic and also took responsibility for tourism sales in the source markets of Italy and Russia. Following a reorganisation in January 2008, Johan is now responsible for the Northern Region which includes all Mainstream tourism sales in the UK & Ireland, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Richard Prosser
Managing Director, Specialist & Emerging Markets

Richard Prosser is a member of the TUI Travel PLC Group Management Board and Managing Director – Specialist & Emerging Markets Sector. Previously, Richard worked for First Choice for ten years and became Managing Director of European Specialist Businesses in 2000.  Prior to joining First Choice, Richard was Director of Cosmos Holidays, part of the Swiss owned Globus organisation.

Joan Vila
Managing Director, Accommodation & Destinations

After developing his professional career in the Destination Services Division of the Barceló Group, Joan Vilà was appointed Managing Director of the Division in 1999, which was integrated into First Choice Holidays PLC in 2000. In November 2002, he was appointed member of the First Choice Holidays PLC Group Management Board and, at present, he is Managing Director of the Accommodation & Destinations Sector at TUI Travel PLC. He holds an MBA from IESE, a degree in Economics from the University of Barcelona and has recently completed the Columbia Senior Executive programme at Columbia Business School.

William Waggott
Commercial Director

William Waggott joined the Board of TUI Travel PLC on 28 June 2007. He spent the early part of his career with Coopers & Lybrand and Courthaulds Textiles plc, where he performed various senior group finance and divisional finance director roles. William joined Airtours plc in 1992 as UK Leisure Group Finance Director, prior to joining Thomson Travel Group in 2001. He then went on to become Chief Financial Officer of TUI Tourism.

John Wimbleton
Managing Director, Activity

John Wimbleton is a member of the TUI Travel PLC Group Management Board and Managing Director - Activity Sector. Prior to this, John was at First Choice and became Managing Director of the Activity Holidays Sector in July 2006, having been with the Company since 1990. From 2000 to 2005 he was Managing Director of UK Distribution at First Choice and prior to this he held the position of Deputy Managing Director of First Choice Holidays for five years.