Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold Appoint Jon Grutzner as New USA President

Phil Cappelli to leave Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold at the end of May

 

 

RYE, N.Y., April 25, 2018 – Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold, two award-winning brands of The Travel Corporation (TTC), are pleased to announce Jon Grutzner as their new USA President. Phil Cappelli, President for the past five years, has decided to step down in order to spend more time with his family after a vigorous travel schedule supporting the brands’ highly respected travel agent partners.

 

“We are very pleased to welcome Jon to the Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold family. He has a stellar track record, superb trade relationships and a phenomenal passion for travel, with an emphasis on providing exceptional service, quality, and experiences which are perfectly aligned with our own core beliefs and values,” said Ulla Hefel Böhler, Global CEO of Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold . “Jon will be fortunate to work alongside Phil Cappelli until the end of May, and we know Jon is very excited to lead the best sales and marketing team that both our brands have ever had. We all look forward to collaborating with Jon to further build our brands’ legacy and outstanding relationships with our treasured travel advisors’ partnerships, as we continue on our path of successful growth.”

 

Mr. Grutzner is a travel industry veteran with over two and a half decades of strategic sales experience in the guided vacations, hotel and cruise sectors. For the past six years he held the role of Director of Sales at Azamara Club Cruises. Mr. Grutzner has also held prior management roles with Collette Vacations, Reader’s Digest and Carlson Leisure Group. Effective April 26th, 2018, Mr. Grutzner will relocate to Rye, New York and will report to Ulla Hefel Böhler. He will work closely with Richard Launder, President of TTC USA, as a member of the USA executive team, which includes Ellen Bettridge, Melissa de Silva, Adam Cooper and Sherwin Banda.

 

Speaking about his new role, Mr. Grutzner said: “This is my dream job – one I’ve been working towards my entire career. I could not be more thrilled to be joining The Travel Corporation’s family of brands. I am humbled to follow in Phil’s footsteps and to work with the outstanding team of sales professionals serving our travel agent partners for Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold. I am incredibly excited to be joining TTC and to become part of a very dynamic and highly engaged team. When you create the best-in-class travel experiences that consistently over-deliver in the destination for our guests, it makes this leadership position the best job in the world for me. We will continue to work very hard to be one of the finest trade partners, to help them source more high value guests and to continue to elevate the two brands to provide the best guest experience possible.”

 

Phil Cappelli is leaving on the best possible terms, and TTC would like to acknowledge the numerous outstanding accomplishments achieved during his tenure, from growing the USA business by over 40% in the past four years, to winning notable trade partner and industry awards, as well as three consecutive Insight Vacations “Office of the Year” awards. 2017 was Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold’s best year ever in the USA, and 2018 will be a record year too.

 

“We are very sad to see Phil go and he will be sorely missed by both the entire USA team and the global Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold family, but we fully respect and endorse his personal desire to slow down his travel schedule and spend more time with his beautiful family,” added Ulla Hefel Böhler. “We would like to thank Phil for an exceptional seven years, during which he truly lived our Chairman’s core belief to ‘never shirk a journey.’ Most importantly, Phil has built outstanding travel partner relationships and a remarkable team of talented and passionate individuals who are poised to take the brands into the future under Jon’s new leadership. I look forward to working closely with Phil over the next month as he hands over his responsibilities to Jon.”

 

Phil Cappelli acknowledged: “After seven incredible years with Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold, I will be stepping down as President effective May 31st, 2018 . Reaching this decision to leave has been very difficult for me and it was made with an abundance of consideration and diligence. The decision came from a personal desire to spend more time with my family and ultimately to reduce my travel schedule. I would like to thank the Tollman family for the opportunity entrusted to me to serve as the USA President for these two phenomenal brands. I am extremely proud of the many accomplishments we have achieved in the past seven years. We have grown the business in the crowded travel space and we are on track to have the company’s best passenger and revenue numbers ever in 2018. I’m most proud of the team that we assembled during my tenure. I leave Jon Grutzner with a talented, hard- working group of dedicated, talented professionals who are ready to grow the company to the next level.”

 

 

About Insight Vacations

As a global leader in premium escorted travel, Insight Vacations^® has been crafting magical journeys for 40 years that embody The Art of Traveling in Style™. Through meticulous planning, detailed preparation and boundless passion, Insight’s collection of award-winning itineraries showcases the most outstanding destinations in Europe and North America. Guided by a highly-skilled Travel Director, guests can look forward to traveling in smaller groups, savoring authentic dining and enjoying a range of immersive Insight Experiences. To find out more, visit insightvacations.com.

 

About Luxury Gold

Luxury Gold sets an unmatched standard with its collection of award-winning journeys. Guided by a Traveling Concierge, Luxury Gold is a journey beyond the ordinary, where guests enjoy exclusive VIP Experiences, savor exceptional dining and relax in luxury hotels on every curated itinerary. As global leaders in luxury travel with expertise accumulated over nearly 100 years, Luxury Gold epitomizes extraordinary exploration to some of the world’s most spectacular destinations. To find out more, visitluxurygoldvacations.com.