Ben Boesch will work alongside Francis Torrilla as joint CEO to lead the UK specialist group
Following the expansion of the DERTOUR Group in the UK market, Ben Boesch has been appointed joint CEO for DERTOUR UK and will work alongside Francis Torrilla to lead the group of 11 specialist businesses.
The size and scale of DERTOUR UK has expanded significantly over the past year, with ongoing projects to integrate the Hotelplan and DERTOUR UK organisations, manage innovation and technology projects and evolve the specialist businesses.
Starting in January 2026, Ben will take a lead on strategic direction of the UK group alongside Francis Torrilla.
Francis and Ben have already worked closely together within the DERTOUR Group, with Ben currently overseeing strategy and specialist businesses for the group, so it’s a positive, productive and familiar working relationship which will ensure the group moves forward with pace, focus and ambition.
Leif Vase Larsen, CEO DERTOUR International, said: “I’m very happy to welcome Ben to his new role; together with Francis we have a dynamic blend of outstanding experience and entrepreneurial spirit to lead the UK businesses into the future. Ben and Francis already work well together, so it’s a great partnership which will give our team in the UK the reassurance of strong leadership with different responsibilities yet a united vision for success.”
It’s anticipated the joint CEO structure will be in place for a year, with a view to Francis retiring towards the end of 2026.
About Ben Boesch
Ben is a highly experienced travel-industry executive with a strong commercial focus and a track record of delivering growth, strategic clarity and operational transformation across international markets.
He joined DERTOUR Group in 2023 and has for the past two years been running the Group’s strategic agenda, driving performance improvement, international expansion and stronger commercial outcomes for a broad portfolio of specialist travel brands.
Prior to DERTOUR, Ben was Chief Digital Officer at VFS Global, the world’s leading visa services provider, where he built transformation teams across four continents and delivered digital platforms and service enhancements used by millions of travellers each year.
Before joining VFS, Ben held leadership roles at Kuoni Group across strategy and commercial development. He helped build and scale several travel and technology ventures — experience that shaped his entrepreneurial mindset, passion for customers, and commitment to building strong, high-performing teams.
Comments from Ben and Francis:
Ben said: “I’m very much looking forward to joining the DERTOUR UK group and leading the business alongside Francis, someone I know and respect enormously. We have an exciting future ahead of us and I know already there is a lot of talent in the team and I’m very excited about what we can achieve together. I love travel in all its forms, from discovering new destinations to deeply understanding the customer journey. We’ve got some of the most respected specialist brands in the market within our UK group all with huge potential and I can’t wait to get started.”
Francis said: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Ben into our family of businesses. I look forward to working closely with him in taking our UK group to the next level. We’ve already set off on our journey in building a fantastic team with plenty of shared learning that we are already putting into practice across the whole group.”
Image material: Benjamin Boesch
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Photo caption: Benjamin Boesch appointed joint CEO of DERTOUR UK
For further information, please contact:
Rachel O’Reilly, Director of Communications DERTOUR UK
t: +(0) 7866 427870
Rachel.oreilly@dertour.co.uk
Background
DERTOUR Group has its head office in Cologne, Germany, and is REWE Group’s travel and tourism division. As one of Europe’s leading travel groups, DERTOUR Group encompasses approximately 200 companies and employs around 15,000 people worldwide. Every year, millions of guests travel with one of the Group’s tour operators or specialists. DERTOUR Group includes tour operators such as DERTOUR, ITS, Meiers Weltreisen, Kuoni, Helvetic Tours, ITS Coop Travel, Billa Reisen, Koning Aap, Apollo, Exim Tours and Fischer, as well as around 2,000 travel agencies (such as DERTOUR, DERPART, Kuoni, Exim, and Fischer, plus franchises and partners), the hotel brands Sentido, Aldiana, and ananea and the online travel agency Prijsvrij Vakanties. The DERTOUR Group also offers on-site support: The company runs an agency network with 71 offices in 31 travel destinations. The staff in the destination agencies assist the guests of the DERTOUR Group from their arrival at their holiday destination until their departure. For more information, go to www.dertour-group.com.