BCD Travel Opens Service Center in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Dark/Light Mode (01/05/23)  BCD Travel has opened a wholly owned service center in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The BCD Travel Asia-Pacific Service Center will not only service clients in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and across the region, but will also support travelers from around the world with front-line services during out of office hours in their regions.

BCD has also become one of the first global TMCs to join the Sri Lanka Board of Investment, which demonstrates the company’s contribution to the local economy and job creation.

The company in Sri Lanka is also creating a local Sustainability Committee and will appoint a local charity to further expand its outreach to the local communities.

BCD Travel opens service center in Colombo, Sri Lanka

“Coming out of the pandemic, our laser focus was on 'building forward' through a sustainable operating strategy,” said John Snyder, president and CEO at BCD Travel. “Investing in a country emerging from political and economic instability not only supports our strategy for sustainable growth, but also demonstrates our commitment to care for our communities and feed the future.”

The service center in Colombo currently has close to 200 full-time employees and is in active expansion mode, with the company expecting it to be one of its largest operations in Asia Pacific by the end of this year.

The service center will be led by a local management team, with Pradeep Kumar as the executive director.

Kumar, who reports to Greg O’Neil, BCD's president for Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa & Global Network, will oversee talent recruitment and operational efficiency for the service center.

“Our ongoing global growth strategy relies on investments that benefit our clients, our employees and our corporate culture,” said O’Neil. “We're proud to create sustainable development opportunities for new talent as we support our customers’ evolving needs.”

The launch is the latest in a multi-year series of investments BCD has made to grow its business. Other significant developments include the expansion of BCD operations in Brazil, China, Colombia, Dubai, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Panama, Peru and Poland; and acquisitions of event production and creative media agency L37 Creative (US), Acendas Travel, Adelman Travel Group and World Travel Services (US), Nordic travel agency Ticket Biz, global Grass Roots Meetings & Events (UK), international events agency Zibrant (UK), marketing and logistics agency Plan 365 (US), GetGoing asset purchase (US), and Universal Meetings Management Inc. (US).

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