STA Travel has hired ex-InterContinental Hotels EMEA regional marketing manager Celia Pronto to become its new marketing director for the UK. The appointment comes amid a restructuring of STA’s UK operations and a major emphasis on the company’s web strategy. Pronto, who has a history of marketing positions outside of travel at Unilever and Rank…
STA Travel appoints new UK marketing boss
STA Travel has hired ex-InterContinental Hotels EMEA regional marketing manager Celia Pronto to become its new marketing director for the UK.
The appointment comes amid a restructuring of STA’s UK operations and a major emphasis on the company’s web strategy.
Pronto, who has a history of marketing positions outside of travel at Unilever and Rank prior to InterContinental, will report to UK managing director John Constable.
Her brief will include on and offline marketing, e-commerce, customer relationship management and partnerships.
In September STA Travel launched a desktop alert tool for users through a major partnership with Skinkers.
The site also underwent a significant overhaul in August to incorporate content from providers such as Lonely Planet.
The student young persons market is being seen as a major growth area in the online travel industry, with Lonely Planet beefing up its web operations in recent months with the inclusion of podcasts and flight search engines.
Lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman recently backed the launch of Univillage.com, a social networking site for students.
As yet the site does not include any travel-related sections, although bosses have not ruled out featuring some form of functionality in the future.
