Cheapflights to ramp up global roll-out with former Virgin marketing chief at helm

Former Virgin Holidays group marketing director, Andrew Shelton, has joined Cheapflights to lead the roll out of the brand globally.

Former Virgin Holidays group marketing director, Andrew Shelton, has joined Cheapflights to lead the roll out of the brand globally.

Shelton was among a raft of senior departures from Virgin announced earlier this year, including managing director Amanda Wills.

He has joined the Momondo Group-owned travel deals comparison website as its first global marketing director.

Last month Momondo announced a multimillion pound investment from Boston-based private equity fund, Great Hill Partners, valuing the firm at more than £132 million.

Shelton’s arrival comes as Cheapflights prepares to ramp up its international marketing activity with new country-specific websites and a new flight search app.

Markets targeted include New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and The Philippines.

Shelton has over 20 years’ experience in the travel sector holding various senior marketing positions.

He spent more than eight years at Virgin Holidays as group marketing director and was previously at British Airways for over ten years in a variety of operational and marketing roles.

As well as increasing the brand’s geographical footprint, Shelton will look to boost engagement with new audiences accessing Cheapflights via mobile and hybrid devices.

He has responsibility for both offline and online marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), social media as well as consumer PR for the Cheapflights brand globally.

Cheapflights commercial director, Mo Bulbrook, said: “This is an important role for Cheapflights; a statement of intent and a move which will underpin our international growth plans as we look to roll out the Cheapflights product portfolio of travel sites and flight apps in English-speaking markets around the world.

“We are investing for growth – and marketing has a key role to play. We have developed leading-edge flight search services that save people time and money, and we already have a community of over 100 million users across the globe; now we want to get the word out to a broader audience.

“I’m pleased to have a marketer of Andrew’s calibre and experience on board as we grow our international footprint and reach out to consumers around the world, helping them to find the best flight options and advice to suit their specific wants, needs and desires.”

Shelton said: “Cheapflights is at an exciting point in its history and there is a significant opportunity to develop our position as we extend into new English-speaking markets and further build a global consumer-champion brand in the online flight search space.

“We have a dynamic product pipeline and strong consumer credentials. The Cheapflights brand has strong heritage and has been a driving force in the development of the global flight comparison sector over the past 18 years.

“Cheapflights has a unique position and resonance with consumers. I want to help take that to the next level; to reach out to new audiences and engage with them.

“I’m very much looking forward to working with Mo and the team – and building our appeal with air travellers and bargain hunters around the world, in what is an innovative and fast-moving sector.”