About David Hosking
David Hosking
Seasoned travel professional David Hosking was born in the Whangarei District of New Zealand and is the president and chief executive of Travcorp SA. He also holds the position of managing director of Contiki, the global travel company.
Mr. Hosking has a deep understanding of worldwide touring and has set up travel programmes which operate across the world’s continents.
David Hosking originally joined Contiki in 1975 as a driver and tour manager in Europe. He spent his initial years in the company as a tour manager in Europe and then another few years driving tours through Scandinavia and Russia. During this time, Mr. Hosking was part of the company’s tours driving the “Overlands” from London to Kathmandu and eventually stretching out to Turkey and Syria, and Jordan and Israel. Within a period of three years, Mr Hosking made a total of seven overland trips.
In 1981 John Anderson, the founder of Contiki, sent Mr Hosking to New Zealand to become Contiki operations manager. In 1983 he moved to Australia and later to America where he became president of Contiki America until 1987. While living in Los Angeles, Mr. Hosking married and had his first child.
In April 1987 Mr. Hosking moved to London and held the post of managing director of Contiki Europe. In 1990 he became managing director of the Contiki Group. In 1996 David Hosking moved to Geneva, where he became involved in Travcorp, which is part of the Travel Corporation, one of the largest travel companies in the world and also owner of Contiki.
In 2000, Mr Hosking became a member of the board of The Travel Corporation. Hosking is also Travcorp S.A.’s managing director and oversees The Travel Corporation’s European activities from Geneva.
Contiki operates from offices in over 35 countries and handles around 80,000 clients per year. Contiki holds the title of being the most popular travelling company for youth worldwide and is considered the leading operator in soft adventure tourism, a segment that has become the international travel industry’s fastest growing segment since the 1990s. It is estimated that the Australian market has a yearly value of up to $500 million, and that globally, the numbers reach up to billions of dollars.
Under Mr Hosking’s leadership, Contiki has recently taken on a new initiative to help further educate travelers regarding environmental issues, such as marine ecosystems: a joint partnership with Celine Cousteau, environmentalist and daughter of the well known ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau. Over the forthcoming years, Cousteau will engage with Contiki’s travelers and provide educational materials to be circulated via the social arena and through Contiki’s web site.
Cousteau looks forward to the collaboration with Contiki Holidays and feels that the well-being of the oceans is indeed the key to the well-being of our planet. She is deeply grateful to Mr Hosking and Contiki for their decision to help guard the marine environment.
Mr. Hosking currently resides in Switzerland and enjoys outdoor life and many sports including cycling and skiing.
David Hosking Links:
Who is David Hosking?
David Hosking page on Entrepreneur Connect
David Hosking - Contiki Tours
David Hosking account on Naymz