On The Beach engineering director appointed CTO at Journey Hospitality

Snapping up travel technology talent, UK hotel technology company Journey Hospitality embarks on a recruitment drive to further bolster its growing team as it seeks to revolutionise hotel ecommerce.

The former Head of Engineering at Booking.com and most recently Director of Engineering at On The Beach, Craig Griffin has taken the role of Chief Technology Officer, tasked with delivering the technology vision for the company, leading the product development for the company’s all-in-one ecommerce platform onejourney® and spa management system Premier Software. Craig has led teams of more than 120 software engineers with experience digitalising other sectors delivering ecommerce experiences including Yodel and Beazley Insurance.

Griffin will join the C-Suite alongside CEO and Founder, Simon Bullingham, and COO Mark Reed, who will manage the company’s operations and lead product client services and agency services.

Simon Bullingham, Founder and CEO of Journey Hospitality, said: “Craig’s experience leading and scaling software teams with Booking.com and On The Beach will enable us to grow our talent and organisation to deliver our technology to a wider audience. Craig understands the complexities of hotel tech and will help us continue to innovate the online guest experience for a more profitable future for the industry.”

Griffin said: “Journey has built a strong reputation for itself over the past decade and its vision is exciting in a very underserved and complex hospitality sector. The new strategic direction, as it evolves into a tech-first company with ambitions to disrupt, is an opportunity too good to refuse. I’m looking forward to building a strong community of engineers that are enabled to deliver their best work and advance their craft.”

Journey, has over 120 staff working from its offices in Cheltenham and Cannock, providing consultancy and marketing services combined with proprietary ecommerce and spa software. In the coming months, the technology company will be recruiting more roles, with plans for further expansion later in the year.

In March 2022, Journey launched its revolutionary all-in-one ecommerce platform, onejourney® servicing over 150 luxury hotels and resorts worldwide, facilitating multi-product shopping baskets, and driving sales of non-accommodation facilities and services, and ancillary revenue streams. In March 2023, Journey extended its hotel ecommerce portfolio with the acquisition of Premier Software, the UK’s leading spa management system.