Ryan’s move in to the newly created role follows the departure of Philippa Baines who joined Intrepid Travel at the end of last year.

Her appointment also comes in the wake of Wendy Wu’s “accelerated growth” in sales through the trade – especially in the north-west and the Midlands, the operator said.

She has previously held a number of senior business development roles for companies including Saga Holidays and Travelsupermarket.com.

As part of her remit, Ryan will be tasked with growing and nurturing relationships with key agency partners such as Travel Club Elite and Aspen Travel as well as boosting awareness of Wendy Wu’s portfolio of escorted tours, tailor-made and specialist group products for travel in Asia and its new South America programme.

She said: “I am very excited to be at Wendy Wu. Agents are absolutely pivotal to the success of Wendy Wu, evident by the growth in agency sales in the last 12 months and notably since the launch of the agents’ bookable website last summer.

“Agents can expect a lot of new developments and new products from Wendy Wu throughout 2018 including the continuation of our free business class upgrades, a value added offer which really benefits our agents.”

John Warr, Wendy Wu’s global sales director, added: “We are thrilled to have Liz onboard. Not only does Liz have an admirable and proven track record in business development but also has a huge passion for Wendy Wu Tours and how we travel.

In the time that Liz has been with us I’ve seen exceptional growth from our agent partners in the north west and Midlands, all testament to Liz’s expertise and exceptional bond with her agency clients.”