Newbold rose to the top role after joining the market-leading brand straight from university. His son Luca said: “Dad started at Thomson Holidays in 1971 as a graduate trainee in the marketing department.
"He stayed with Thomson Travel Group until his retirement in 1999 apart from a period from 1974 to 1976 when he moved to Australia where he bought and ran a fish and chip shop in Cairns.”
During his time at Thomson Travel Group, Newbold established a US tour operator based in Chicago, served as managing director of Portland Holidays and also marketing director of Thomson Holidays. He went on to become managing director from 1987 until 1997, and remained with the business as group development director until his retirement.
Newbold was also instrumental in setting up Llama Travel in 2002 with Luca and Luca’s brother Nicholas.
Former Thomson communications director Russell Amerasekera told TTG: “I knew Charles for well over 30 years. The term genius is much overused today, but I do believe Charles was a true tour operating genius.
“His brilliant analytical mind, his judgement and his empathy are among the best I’ve seen from any leader in any industry.
“Most of all Charles cared about people. For him, that meant every customer deserved a wonderful and meaningful travel experience and that the people who worked at Thomson were happy and could make a worthwhile contribution.
“Charles was a true visionary and innovator, probably the best the industry has ever seen and one of the finest human beings you could ever wish to meet.”
