Effective 1 July, Herman Hoven will become the new Chief Executive Officer of Khiri Travel. Hoven is currently General Manager of Khiri Travel Indonesia. He has been with Khiri for five years.
Current Khiri Travel CEO, the founder of the company, Willem Niemeijer, will become Chairman – a non-operational responsibility, which will allow him to focus full time on his current role as CEO of YAANA Ventures, Khiri’s parent company.
Also on 1 July, Keagan Willemsen will become Chief Financial Officer for Khiri Travel. He has been Khiri Travel’s internal Efficiency Czar for over a year.
Richard Brouwer will continue as Chief Commercial Officer of Khiri Travel, which was founded by Niemeijer in 1993 and now has over 200 staff in 17 offices in seven countries in Asia.
“Herman will bring new energy and a full-time focus to leading Khiri Travel,” said Niemeijer. “Herman has a proven track record in creating great travel experiences, is service-minded and is a caring leader with strong cross-cultural skills.
He added: “Khiri management and staff will be empowered to take their passion for discovery to new heights, which will be evident in continuous innovation of product, service delivery and sustainability.”
Prior to his current role in Khiri, Hoven served as Branch Manager for Khiri Travel Indonesia 2014-15 in Yogyakarta, then as General Manager from 2015 in Lombok, then Bali. Over his 18 years in the travel industry, Hoven has also served as a resident manager at a resort in Phuket, in the cruise services and hotel sector in The Netherlands and as a winter sports guide in Austria.
He is a graduate from the Breda University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands where he studied International Tourism Management.
“I am excited to lead our great Khiri teams around Asia. The aim is to grow our reputation for innovation and authenticity in responsible tourism,” said Hoven.
Hoven will work closely with Willemsen who has served as a Peace Corps volunteer in eastern Ukraine, studied consumption and development patterns in emerging economies, and worked for international development companies.
Willemsen holds a BA in History and International Affairs from Colorado College and an MBA from the Wharton School and MA from the Lauder Institute of the University of Pennsylvania.
Niemeijer will devote his energies full time to YAANA Ventures, where he and Chief Financial Officer, Mark Remijan, are developing new projects in the responsible tourism and hospitality sphere.
Apart from Khiri Travel, YAANA Ventures includes Cardamom Tented Camp in Cambodia, Anurak Lodge in southern Thailand, GROUND Asia, which creates education travel programs for students, and Visama Lodges, a turn-key solution for luxury eco-lodges in remote parts of Asia.
“I’m very proud of what the team at Khiri Travel has achieved in the past 26 years, and confident that Herman, Richard and Keagan will continue to add many more years of growth and success to Khiri Travel’s triple-bottom line,” said Niemeijer. “These are exciting times for all of us.”
