SPEAKERS

With over two decades of leadership experience within the travel industry, Jacqueline Dobson has been pivotal in shaping the Barrhead Travel Group into a UK-wide success story.  

Jacqueline is a member of the Executive Leadership Team of Barrhead Travel’s parent organisation, Internova Travel Group. She has assumed the position of President of its leisure division, The Vacation Group, which, alongside the Barrhead Travel Group incorporates US-based brands Andrew Harper, Cruise Specialists, Cruise Specialists, The Vacation Group, Roadtrips and Bonotel. 

From entering the industry as a trainee sales consultant to where she stands today, as President of the burgeoning travel group, Jacqueline’s considerable expertise now spans a multitude of business areas including commercial negotiations, business acquisition, marketing-communications and luxury travel.  

Jacqueline’s Barrhead Travel journey began in 2000 when she was appointed as a senior luxury sales consultant. Shortly after joining, she established a standalone VIP division and led a new salesdepartment as the business continued to grow. With a keen eye for business development opportunities, Jacqueline also began to integrate a marketing strategy which she operated in tandem with her sales role.  

As Barrhead Travel continued to expand, Jacqueline was tasked with the ambitious operation of opening the Glasgow superstore. The colossal space became Europe’s largest travel store at 22,000 square feet. This unprecedented move marked a new chapter for Barrhead Travel as it began to widen its retail network.  Following a promotion to Cruise and Longhaul Director in 2003, Jacqueline’s priority migrated to driving commercial negotiations and forming meaningful relationships with worldwide tour operators and tourist boards to bolster business. During this time, she successfully positioned Barrhead Travel as the undisputed leader in the Scottish travel market and secured exclusive commercial deals and advertising partnerships. She also established a profitable tour-operation division with the launch of British Airways charters to the Mediterranean, resulting in a game-changing move for the Scottish business.  

A management buyout in 2007 brought with it a new opportunity as Managing Director. It was a natural move for Jacqueline, now an astute and experienced leader who had played a crucial role in growing the commercial footprint of the now award-winning travel group. Jacqueline continued striving for innovation and opportunity and led a senior team through an aggressive series of branch expansions and business acquisitions, while simultaneously steadying the business through the UK’s disruptive and challenging recession.   

Jacqueline has witnessed – and played a strategic role in - Scotland’s favourite travel brand blossoming from one single high street store in a Glasgow suburb to a UK-wide travel group. Following the acquisition of the group to one of North America’s largest travel companies, Internova Travel Group, Jacqueline was appointed president of Barrhead Travel in December 2018, taking over the reins from her friend and colleague, Sharon Munro. Since Jacqueline’s appointment at the helm, the group has brought UK expansion plans to fruition and now boasts a network of over 85 locations in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland.  

Navigating the Covid crisis remains one of the most challenging periods in Jacqueline’s career. Although no stranger to leading the business through crisis having worked through 9/11 and the Ash Cloud, Covid presented unthinkable challenges to the travel industry. Jacqueline became a vocal champion for travel and was a key driver for lobbying the government for support for travel, particularly in Scotland where she was instrumental in securing the vital Travel Agent fund which became a lifeline for many independent businesses.    

In addition to leading Barrhead Travel, Jacqueline also currently serves as Vice President of the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA) and is due to take over the Presidency in January 2024 for a two-year term. In her capacity as Vice President, she ensures that travel agents of Scotland have a voice at industry and political forums.  

Thanks to her proven track-record, ambition and innovative strategic decisions, Jacqueline’s story of success is well-known and admired amongst industry peers and senior business executives. Jacqueline has been widely commended across the business community and travel industry for her extraordinary leadership, having been named as Inspiring Business Woman of the Year at the prestigious Business Women Scotland Awards, receiving the Contribution to Travel Award at TTG’s Top 50 Awards in 2021, and most recently, being inducted into CLIA’s Hall of Fame in 2023.  

Her grass-roots development from where she began to where she is now – as trainee to President of the leisure division of one of the world’s largest travel organisations– is echoed in her passion for mentorship. She leads and inspires a new generation of future business leaders through a dedicated coaching and one-to-one mentoring programmes.