Rich Tuckwell, VP of Sales and Marketing at Avvio, an industry-leading direct booking platform, was last Wednesday named as one of Europe's Top 20 Extraordinary Minds. Celebrated for his innovation and expertise in sales and marketing, Rich collected his award at the HSMAI conference in Amsterdam and learned that he was nominated by not one but three Avvio experts. After having transformed Avvio last year, grown the team and developed a name for the business in American soil in just under a year, Rich's award is well deserved.

Rich Tuckwell joined Avvio in May 2016. Previous to Rich joining, Avvio had focussed on markets close to home, namely Ireland and the UK.

In just a few months, Rich revitalised the Avvio brand with a sleek identity, new tagline and a vibrant colour palette. He surrounded himself with experts across the industry and doubled the size of the sales and marketing team. He then took Avvio across the pond to introduce the business into the North American market.

Rich took his first flight to represent Avvio in the USA in September. Since then he has sponsored and spoken at several high-profile events to promote Europe's best booking engine, including HITEC Las Vegas, the Caribbean Travel Market and HX: the Hotel Experience event in New York.

"Growing Avvio has been intense, but I'm loving every minute of it. It's all about a great strategy, like our 'Be More Direct' campaign. And if you have a genuinely valuable and innovative service with leading expertise to showcase, like we do, you'll find people are happy to hear what you have to say."

Aside from the USA, Rich has also grown awareness for Avvio across Europe. In just three weeks, Rich has jetted between Berlin, Paris and Amsterdam, including the recent HITEC show where he led a roundtable discussion at the HSMAI Revenue Optimisation (ROC) conference.

"At the ROC, we discussed the importance of mobile optimisation in the digital age. A recent study has revealed that mobile browsing has overtaken desktop.

While the hospitality industry is usually slow to embrace change, this is one technology trend accommodation providers can't afford to ignore. It was invaluable to come together with a small group of industry experts to discuss the impact of the mobile revolution on the industry and how businesses can optimise their website for mobile booking and marketing."

More about HSMAI Awards

Organised by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), HSMAI Region Europe Awards celebrate the top 20 extraordinary minds in sales, marketing and technology across Europe. Hosted at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre on 29 April 2017, the HSMAI awards brought professionals from across Europe together to appreciate the wealth of talent in the industry.

More about Avvio

Avvio is the premium booking platform and digital agency for hotels and serviced apartment providers. Founded in 2002, Avvio has grown year-on-year by developing cutting-edge technologies that enable accommodation providers to drive outstanding growth in direct bookings, while reducing their dependence on online travel agency channels. Find more at www.avvio.com

Avvio Team