PAX exclusive: Goway looks ahead with new COO appointment

For John Feenaghty, Goway’s new chief operating officer, growth in Western Canada and the continued push of the tour operator’s Europe product will be among his priorities in the coming years, as Goway Founder Bruce Hodge prepares the next phase of the Toronto-based business ahead of his eventual retirement.

Feenaghty’s appointment earlier this month marks the second of two new roles for the company, preceded by the November appointment of Canadian travel industry veteran Craig Canvin as Goway’s new VP for UK-Europe.

All about timing

For Hodge and Feenaghty, it was all a matter of getting the timing right: while the pair had discussed a role for Feenaghty at Goway in 2012, it wasn’t until January 2017 that the stars aligned following an interview on Australia’s Gold Coast.

“I’m not getting any younger,” Hodge told PAX this week. “The kids and my wife keep pressuring me to slow down, so I’m listening to my family and nature. I decided 18 months ago to make this move to ensure that Goway keeps growing. I didn’t want to hold the company back and that’s where John comes in.”

While a number of other international candidates for the role were considered (including individuals from South Africa, Switzerland, the U.S. and Canada), Feenaghty’s similar vision for Goway and wide range of travel industry experience, most recently within the Flight Centre Travel Group in Australia, gave him the edge, Hodge said.

Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Feenaghty also previously worked in North America when Flight Centre purchased New Jersey-based Liberty Travel. Despite coming from the head offices of “a large commercial beast,” Feenaghty said that the transition to a role at a smaller, family-run travel business has been relatively seamless, noting a number of similarities between the two companies’ visions.

“The journey for me was quite long,” Feenaghty told PAX. “What I took from our meeting was that there’s a lot of opportunities for Goway, in terms of Bruce’s vision and what he’s trying to achieve. I’ve known about Goway for many years and at its heart, it’s a travel experience company. As big as Flight Centre is, that’s what they’re trying to be as well, albeit in more of a commoditized way.

“What I’ve come from is a large commercial beast – and from the head office, at that – and I’ve seen all parts of Flight Centre,” he continued, “so to come into a family environment where Bruce and his employees feel like part of something is great. It’s big enough yet small enough at the same time and I really enjoy that. Opportunities abound and my role here is to help the company achieve those, while helping Bruce to step away as he chooses.”

The five-year plan

Operating with a five-year plan in mind, Feenaghty explained that Goway will focus on both retail and wholesale growth in the immediate future, while working with Canvin to continually develop the tour operator’s Europe product, which returned in 2013 after being discontinued for many years. The company’s plans will also see Feenaghty working closely with Adam and Bronwyn Hodge – Goway’s marketing manager and product manager of IslandEscapes by Goway, respectively - as they assume senior leadership roles in the business.

“In the U.S., we see lots of potential for the growth of the retail business down there,” Feenaghty said, adding that the company is also growing its U.S. wholesale business. “It’s solid but on a numbers basis, it’s virtually untapped. There’s opportunity in Western Canada as well, which needs to grow on the wholesale side.

Regarding the growth of Europe, Hodge added, “It’s going in the direction we want to; the challenge to Craig is to make Europe as big as the South Pacific in the next three years. He’s not going to do it this year, or next year, but by the third year, we know he’ll do it. It’s like turning on a tap that we didn’t know was there.”

As for his eventual retirement plans, Hodge told PAX that he’s in no rush.

“I’m not going too far. We’re working on a five year plan, which is all about growth for the company. Halfway through that is 2020, which is Goway’s 50th anniversary. I expect to be around for that and as soon as I’m totally satisfied that the Goway machine is ticking along nicely and well-oiled, that’s when I’m comfortable leaving.”