WYSE Travel Confederation Director General, David Jones to step down in October 2010

Amsterdam. After 15 years of successful service, David Jones – Director General of the World Youth Student & Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation, will stand down following WYSTC 2010 (World Youth & Student Travel Conference) in Beijing this October. David will remain in his position over the next 9 months to ensure a smooth transition to a new Director General who will be recruited in the coming months.

During his impressive tenure, David made a huge contribution not only to serving and representing the global community that the Confederation serves, but to the broader agenda of promoting the unique social and economic value of youth and student travel and international education, to the highest levels of governments, official tourism authorities and other industry opinion formers worldwide.
David moved from Canada to Amsterdam to take the position of Director General of the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC), where he restructured and continued to manage the organisation for over 10 years as it grew in influence and provided valuable services to the community whilst building up considerable financial reserves to ensure its future.   He orchestrated the merger of the Federation of International Youth Travel Organisations (FIYTO) and ISTC into one, united, global organisation – WYSE Travel Confederation.  
Amongst his many achievements during his time at ISTC and the Confederation, was the rebranding and introduction of new global distribution and issuing systems for the International Student Identity Card (ISIC), helping to double the sales of the card and reinforcing its status and recognition as the only, truly recognised global student identity card.   He established the initial programmes of research and market intelligence that, for the first time, gave youth travel a global perspective and a shared platform for the industry.
He has been an inspiration to our community, unrelenting in his ambition to support the development of the industry and see the youth sector acknowledged as an economic powerhouse and force for good.
David forged valuable relationships to build the Confederation’s influence and spread the message about the value of the youth sector.  While serving as Director General, he held key positions on a number of travel industry boards, including:
•    Vice President, UN World Tourism Organisation Affiliate Members Board,
•    Chairperson, European Travel Action Group (ETAG)
•    Member of the UNWTO Committee on Sustainable Development of Tourism.  
•    Member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Board of Directors
David will be with us to introduce the new Director General at WYSTC 2010 in Beijing, an opportunity for us to wish him well in his future endeavours.  
The search for a new Director General is underway…..
The WYSE Travel Confederation executive board has engaged the services of Heidrick & Struggles, the global executive search firm, to help with the identification and appointment of a successor to David Jones as Director-General. An international search is currently underway, led by Jake Gordon-Clark of Heidrick & Struggles‘ London office.