Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based Chairman operating in the Travel space. If you think a Chairman is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Micky Arison
Chairman of the Board Carnival Corporation & plc of Carnival Cruise Line
Micky Arison grew up in the cruise business and spent the better part of two decades learning it from the ground up before being appointed chairman in 1990. Mr. Arison began in the sales department at Carnival Cruise Lines and worked his way up becoming reservations manager in 1974. He became vice president of passenger traffic in 1976, and just three years later, Mr. Arison was named president. In 1987, Carnival went public, raising $400 million for future expansion, and by early 1989, Mr. Arison engineered the acquisition of the venerable Holland America Line. The purchase also included Windstar Cruises and Westours (now Holland America Princess Tours), a leading Alaska tour operator, giving Carnival entrée to the premium segment of the cruise industry. Over the next several years, Carnival Corporation acquired brands in various other markets including ultra-luxury Cunard Line and Seabourn Cruise Line, as well as contemporary European operator Costa Cruises, the region’s number one cruise line. In April 2003, Mr. Arison spearheaded the transaction combining Carnival Corporation’s six cruise operators with the brands of P&O Princess Cruises, creating a truly global cruise operator with the leading cruise brands in both North America and Europe.
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About : Carnival Cruise Line offers an online platform that enables travelers to plan and book cruise tours from a range of packages.
Clive Jackson
Founder & Chairman of Victor
Clive Jackson is the founder and Chairman of Victor.
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About Victor: Victor is a London, UK-based private jet charter marketplace.
Robert Milton
Chairman of the Board of Directors of United Airlines
Robert Milton is a Member of the Board of Directors at United Continental Holdings Inc. since April 2016. Robert was Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. and was Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada. Having joined Air Canada in 1992 in a consulting capacity, Robert moved from the role of Senior Director of Scheduling to Vice President of Scheduling and Product Management, Senior Vice President of Marketing and In-Flight Service and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Robert became President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada in 1999. Robert is currently the Lead Director of Air Lease Corporation, a Member of the Board of Directors of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and a Trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation Inc. Robert was a past Member of the Board of Directors of US Airways, Inc., and was also a past Chairman of the Board of Governors of IATA (The International Air Transport Association). Robert graduated in 1983 from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Industrial Management.
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About Air Canada: United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 5,000 flights each day to more than 370 destinations throughout the world.
Nick Caplan
Chairman of Fly Now Pay Later
Nick is a Senior Sector Partner of the Athene Capital Group. Nick is a transformation and change advisor helping companies get from point A to point B. As such, he has amassed a wide range of experience, currently holding boarding positions in the following companies: Travel Fund, ANDigital, myCSP, OXAND and Managed Networks. Previously, Nick started his career at EY and rose to become CMO and Group Exec Board Director of Logica.
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About Athene Capital: Fly Now Pay Later is a fintech company that helps consumers split the cost of their travel in monthly installments.
Jan Spaticchia
Chairman & CEO of Energie Group
Jan Spaticchia is the Founder and Chairman at Empowered Brands.
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About Be Military Fit, Empowered Brands, Energie Group, Hedgehog Concept: Energie is genuinely like no other fitness club group.
Roger Flynn
Chairman of Luxtripper
Roger is a Chairman and investor in travel, media and technology businesses that have the potential to disrupt their markets. He is also a recognised public speaker on transformational change, disruption, leadership, culture and innovation. Roger is Chairman at Luxtripper, D R Communications, Clearvac Group, Decisive Media and NED at Cooke Optics. Roger was Chairman of Loveholidays from 2011 to 2018, during which the business grew from launch to £500m in revenues and was sold to private equity investor Livingbridge for £180m. Roger was Chairman of Olive Communications which was sold in February 2021 to OneCom backed by LDC and Masstech Innovations Inc., which was sold in March 2021 to Telestream. Previous roles have included Chief Executive at BBC Ventures Group, Commercial Director at Virgin Communications, Head of World Sales and Distribution at British Airways, Managing Director of Prudential Retail and President International at SDI Media Group, a Warburg Pincus backed management buyout.
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About : Luxtripper is a luxury travel company that operates an online travel booking site which matches users with suitable holiday destinations.
Shiraz Boghani
Chairman of The Splendid Hotels Group
As the Chairman for the Splendid Hospitality Group, Shiraz Boghani was awarded with the Hotelier of the Year honor from the 2016 Asian Business Awards. Shiraz Boghani manages, and owns 19 of the United Kingdom’s trading hotels, and has spent thirty years within the hospitality industry. He has been qualified as a Chartered Accountant, is considered a dynamic entrepreneur, and the hotel sector is his passion. During the 1900’s, he was one of the hoteliers first to announce hotels with limited service brands. Shiraz Boghani has recently launched an exciting project for the Hilton London Bankside. Vibrant Bankside will house this stylish London project. His additional flagship hotels include The Grand Hotel & Spa, York, the Conrad London St James, and the Holiday Inn London. His more recent acquisitions are the Mercure Bristol Brigstow Hotel, and the New Ellington in Leeds. Shiraz Boghani gives a lot of support to a charity registered in the United Kingdom called the Aga Khan Foundation, and the global network of Aga Khan Development.
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About : The Splendid Hotels Group acquires, develops, and manages a network of hotels in the United Kingdom.
Lord Rothermere
Chairman of the Board of Directors of DMG Media
Lord Rothermere has been Chairman of DMGT and a Non-Executive Director of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC since 1998. Lord Rothermere worked at the International Herald Tribune in Paris and the Mirror Group before moving to Northcliffe Newspapers Group in 1995. In 1997 Lord Rothermere became Managing Director of the Evening Standard.
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About : DMG media is a consumer media company engaged in print and online newspaper publishing.
Raphael Zier
Co Founder and Executive Chairman of PerfectStay
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About PerfectStay: PerfectStay is a Paris-based B2B tour operator that offers a tailor-made travel sales offer for major brands.
David Adams
Non-Executive Director & Chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Elegant Hotels Group PLC
David is currently Chairman of Conviviality Retail plc, Ecovision Ltd, Park Cameras Ltd and Walk the Walk (a breast cancer charity). He is also the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Hornby plc, a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee at Fevertree Drinks plc and Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee at Elegant Hotels Group plc. David was Finance Director and Deputy Chief Executive of House of Fraser plc until 2006, then Executive Chairman of Jessops plc, becoming Non-Executive Chairman in 2009. In addition, he has held several Executive and Non-Executive roles in 30 years in retailing, including ten years as a plc Finance Director. He brings extensive and relevant experience in financial and general management roles, including ten years as plc Finance Director, and has held 4 other plc Audit Chair roles over the last 5 years.
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About : Elegant Hotels offers a unique collection of five luxury hotels beautifully situated along stunning beaches.
Michael Frenzel
Chairman of World Travel & Tourism Council
Dr Michael Frenzel was born in Leipzig on 2 March 1947. After matriculation, he studied law at Ruhr University in Bochum, and successfully completed his doctorate (Dr. jur.) whilst working at the University as a scientific assistant. Frenzel joined the Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB), Düsseldorf in 1981, where he was promoted to various managerial positions: he became manager of the Industrial Holdings Department in 1983, and overall manager of WestLB’s Equity Holdings Division in 1985 – including holdings in banking, leasing and real estate. In 1988, he became a member of the Preussag AG executive board, being responsible for Trading and Logistics. He was promoted to chairman of the executive board in January 1994. Under his leadership, the multi-business conglomerate Preussag was repositioned into Europe’s leading tourism Group within only a few years. One of the main milestones was the acquisition of a stake in Hapag-Lloyd in 1997. This was followed by the acquisition of leading tourism companies such as TUI/Hanover, Thomson Travel/London, and Nouvelles Frontières/Paris. On 1 July 2002, the annual general meeting passed a resolution to change the name of Preussag AG to TUI AG. On 3 September 2007 Frenzel was appointed Chairman of TUI Travel PLC. Furthermore, on 20 April 2012 Dr Frenzel was appointed Chairman of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Executive Committee.
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About TUI Group, World Travel & Tourism Council: World Travel & Tourism Council works to raise awareness of Travel & Tourism as one of the world’s largest industries.
Gary Fletcher
Non Executive Chairman & Investor of Away Resorts
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About Away Resorts: Away Resorts is a selection of stunning UK holiday parks offering fabulous relaxing breaks for all the family.
Richard Segal
Chairman of hostelworld.com
Richard is chairman at Hostelworld, a booking website that enables its users to make online reservations and payments.
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About hostelworld.com: Hostelworld is a booking website that enables its users to make online reservations and payments.
Iain Lanaghan
Interim Executive Chairman of Metropolitan European Transport
Iain Lanaghan is co-founder and Interim Executive Chairman of MET. He is also a Non-Executive Director of MOD’s Defence Equipment & Support organisation, The National Nuclear Laboratory and Scottish Water. He has specialised in building growth companies in public and private markets, as well as the restructuring of entities in the transport and energy sectors. His previous transport experience has included four years as Group Finance Director of FirstGroup plc. At FirstGroup he significantly strengthened the balance sheet by increasing debt maturity through the issue of £550 million of bonds, including the debut bond, and £400 million of refinanced facilities, as well as major changes to the Group’s pension schemes. He also led a number of successful acquisitions and integrations. He was a founder and former CFO of European transport business Abellio GmbH. Other senior roles have included Group Finance Director at Faroe Petroleum plc, where activities included two equity raises and a sector-leading debt refinancing, and value adding acquisitions, disposals and swaps. He was also Finance Director of PowerGen International, which grew from a start-up to $7billion of projects under management. He has also had experience in private equity backed businesses, including as Group Finance Director of Atlantic Power, which he prepared for IPO prior to a successful trade sale. He is a chartered accountant, having worked in KPMG London and Frankfurt.
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About Metropolitan European Transport: MET is one or Germany’s leading contracted local bus businesses, set up by experts with German and international experience.
