BERLIN, March 26 (Reuters) - German travel group TUI AG TU1n.DE said on Thursday it was restructuring its management board, appointing airline chief Marco Ciomperlik to a new role as chief operating officer to oversee operations.
"In future, our entire operational business across all segments will be managed in a single board portfolio," Chief Executive Sebastian Ebel said, adding that the move would improve efficiency.
Ciomperlik, 50, will join the management board in May at the head of the Markets + Airline division, which includes tour operators, as well as TUI’s own hotels and activities businesses. The roles were previously overseen by board members David Schelp and Peter Krueger, who will both leave the company.
TUI, the world's largest travel group, said Ciomperlik's mandate would be to more closely link its business units.
Ciomperlik joined TUI in 2016 after earlier roles at Deutsche Bank, management consultancy Roland Berger and airline Air Berlin, which collapsed in 2017. At TUI, he led efforts to harmonise and improve efficiency at the group’s five regional airlines. Most recently, he worked alongside Schelp on restructuring TUI’s poorly performing tour-operator business, transforming it from regionally run units into a single global marketplace.
Ebel will now take direct responsibility for group strategy, a responsibility previously held by Krueger.
(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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