Chris Castle

As Connectivity Partner Business Manager for EMEA and APAC, my role is to optimise API integration performance to facilitate seamless customer experiences and improve selection by expanding supply.

Work closely with internal and external backend engineering teams, as well as leading commercial efforts with strategic API partners.

Strategic Accounts:

- GMV growth of 50% vs pre-pandemic amongst EMEA/APAC reservation systems, ticketing systems, and channel managers - region accounts for nine-figure net revenue

- Co-led a global initiative which resulted in 23% improvement in technical performance, 25% in feature uptake, and 38% in commercial engagement

- Improved key API endpoint performance amongst select top attractions, like TV Tower, by 20% YOY through data analysis and backend improvements

- Produce majority of content and copy - website, blog, webinars, emails etc - reaching 1k people p/month

New Partnerships:

- Negotiated agreements and launched new integrations with the likes of Vivaticket, See Tickets, IACPOS - facilitating GMV increase by seven figures

- Developed new financial modelling to evaluate and prioritise commercial opportunities against required engineering resourcing, leading to more impactful use of engineering time

Product/Tech:

- Currently rolling out our Pricing Over API feature with the aim to implement across 50% of partners by launch date

- Routinely troubleshoot API issues using logs and co-develop partner product roadmaps to drive integration performance

- Tools: Looker, Freshdesk, Datadog, Kibana, JIRA

Team/Culture

- Designed and built Connectivity knowledge base, increased internal usage by 100%

- Co-lead the global Connectivity Champions Program to disseminate domain knowledge across business

- Led team culture initiative

My role is to accelerate sales through new commercial partnerships, enhanced customer experiences, and lead innovation projects at the intersection of Sales, Brand, and Product with our teams across the world.

• I develop and execute our global business development strategy, with a core focus on diversifying our revenue streams from traditional distribution channels into new sectors and source markets. Pre-COVID, the focus was to strengthen our foothold in growing sectors such as Cruise, Groups, DMC, White Label, and Consortia. Post-COVID, this has been pivoted to focusing on expanding regionalised partnerships with a particular focus on Asia and LATAM source markets to drive business for our local teams within the region.

• Led the global project to launch Lonely Planet Experiences, a range of products across 70 different countries and 200 products with global distribution and reach, resulting in the top story feature at The Guardian.

• Head up our branded/white label experience partnerships such as those with The New York Times, Match.com, Culture Trip and many more from concept to execution.

• Led our Groups/Tailormade team of 5 to over 100% revenue growth YOY with improved profitability through expanding partnerships, margin improvement, and improved sales processes. Received top scores in employee engagement surveys for culture, leadership, and innovation.

• Member of the Commercial Management Team, responsible for driving commercial results across all channels and developing wider business strategy.

• Owning agile projects to improve the channel mix by increasing B2C sales. Ongoing projects include launching new product ranges and pricing structures, offering multi-lingual experiences, online experiences and overhauling the customer journey.

• Delivered 3-day management course for 20x managers at a global conference in Athens.

• Created our post-COVID health and safety procedures, now being adopted by other operators.