As it embarks on a new phase of its planned global expansion, Illusions has bolstered its senior executive team by appointing Duncan Alexander to the role of vice president global alliances and partnerships.

Alexander has more than 20 years of travel distribution and technology experience having worked in senior management positions at Mercator, the commercial arm of Emirates Group IT, the Official Airline Guides, SITA and Travelport GDS.

He has also worked as a management consultant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Logica with clients including Athens Airport, Aer Lingus, the British Tourist Authority, Emirates Holidays, Jumeirah Group, Amadeus and other major travel brands.

Before joining Illusions Alexander was director at The Travel Marketing Store which he founded with his partner.

The business focuses on providing strategic management consultancy specialising in travel and tourism and which organises travel marketing events.

These include The Travel Marketing Forum, the 2014 edition of which takes place in Dubai in September, supported by Illusions as a headline sponsor.

Illusions chief executive Faisal Memon recently established the i-World Travel eXchange to enable destination management companies, tour operators and travel agents to sell one another’s content in real time.

The next step is to make the system available to the entire global travel trade with the aim of creating what Memon calls the ‘Amazon of the travel industry’.

Alexander’s remit is to forge strategic alliances with big global distribution partners.

He will also be bolstering iWTX content by bringing more DMCs on board and is already engaged with key organisations on both sides of the market place, content providers and distributors.

“I understand distribution and creating a transactional marketplace,” explained Alexander.

“I can create a market where there are gaps and create a buzz about it.

“This is a logical extension of what I have done in the past.

“When I discussed with Faisal his vision I immediately became excited by its potential.

“The efficient integration, distribution and sale of destination content is the next frontier for travel distribution.”