&Beyond, one of Africa’s leading safari companies, has announced the appointment of Joss Kent as its Chief Executive Officer.
Kent was previously global CEO of Abercrombie & Kent (A&K), heading up their 61 international offices and thus brings a wealth of travel industry knowledge and experience in managing large-scale tour operations in the high-end market.
“It was extremely important for us to select a CEO who had both hard-nosed commercial experience and a deep understanding of the luxury safari business in order to drive our vision for growth and market leadership,” said &Beyond Joint Chairman Mark Getty.
“Kent possesses those crucial qualities and, very importantly, shares our commitment to building an iconic brand that makes a positive difference to conservation of land, wildlife and communities,” he added.
Prior to joining the safari industry in a leadership capacity, Kent trained at the Royal Military Academy (Sandhurst) and served in the British armed forces. Thereafter he worked as a business analyst, graduated with a Harvard MBA and spent three years as a management consultant with Bain & Co in the USA and UK. He re-joined A&K as Chief Operating Officer, then climbed the ranks to Managing Director and finally took up the post of CEO in 2010.
He joins &Beyond (previously known as Conservation Corporation Africa), a world-renowned conservation leader and operator of over 35 luxury safari lodges and camps in five African countries and India. Kent will also lead &Beyond’s large upmarket tour operating division which operates in 16 countries.