Saint-Cloud, February 01, 2022 – CDS Groupe, the business travel marketplace, is now strengthening its international positioning by counting among its members of the Board of Directors, Patrick W. Diemer, former CEO of Airplus, and currently Senior Advisor at Arthur D. Little Management Consulting and advisory board member of Anxo Management Consulting. He is renowned for his extensive expertise in global payments and business travel industries.
The entry of Patrick W. Diemer, former Managing Director of Airplus, to the CDS Group Board of Directors is of major importance because it will enable CDS to establish its growth strategy at European level.
As CDS plans its growth in Europe, the arrival of Patrick Diemer within CDS is an asset and an accelerator. After becoming the leader on the French market, the group wishes to extend its ambition to the European market in order to become a major player there. Patrick Diemer is a specialist with an excellent network and alot of experience in the sector, his exceptional knowledge is essential to the future of the group.
During his career, Patrick Diemer was the CEO of AirPlus where he led a global expansion strategy and built AirPlus into one of the leading issuers of card payments. Previously, he led Visa Germany and was SVP consumer marketing at Commerzbank. For several years, he has been active as a business angel, member of the board of directors and investor in start-ups in the travel and payment sector, such as HtoH in France, eco.mio in Germany and The Apartment Network in the UK and Germany.
In 2017, Patrick Diemer was named one of the “25 Most Influential People in Business Travel” by Business Travel News.
Currently a volunteer at VDR, the German Business Travel Association, he is leading their ‘Restarting Business Travel’ working group where he pushes companies towards a new normal in business mobility.
CDS Groupe will be able to count on his advice and his vision to accelerate its international development and meet the needs of the business hotel industry which, despite the crisis, has recorded significant growth rates. The group will thus be able to internationalize its activity and obtain strategic partnerships and therefor strengthen its service to travelers and agencies.
Patrick Diemer ‘s experience will be a major strategy in the growth of CDS Groupe at a European level, particularly in Germany, Benelux, Italy and the United Kingdom.
His great mastery and his diversed career in the business travel sector will also allow him to continue the work carried out on innovation. CDS is working for this purpose to provide solutions related to new means of payment and management tools in order to continually improve the user experience. With the arrival of Patrick Diemer in the board of directors, CDS acquires a fine knowledge of European countries and will be able to adapt to the needs of each.
“I am delighted to welcome Patrick at my side. His international vision and his knowledge of payment will undeniably contribute to strengthening our hotel & payment strategy at the European level of business travel” Ziad Minkara, CEO of CDS Groupe.
CDS Groupe aspires to change the way travel and accommodation buyers use the hospitality industry.
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