Hostelworld appoints Gary Morrison as CEO as Mooney steps down

Feargal Mooney will step down as chief executive officer of hostel-focused online booking platform Hostelworld in June after 10 years in the role and will be replaced by Expedia executive Gary Morrison.

Morrison has been at Expedia for the last seven years, serving in a number of roles, the most recent of which was head of retail operations. Prior to that, he headed up the company's EMEA region.

Mooney joined Hostelworld 16 years ago, not long after it was established. He served as chief operations and finance officer and since 2008, as chief executive. The company said that during that time, he has made "a singular contribution to the group's development", initially in private ownership, before transitioning to private equity and finally steering the company to a successful IPO in 2015.

Chairman Michael Cawley said: "Feargal has been speaking with me and the board about his plans for the long term and consequently some months ago we focused our attentions on succession to facilitate an orderly transition. We are delighted to appoint a candidate of Gary's calibre and experience to succeed Feargal.

"Gary's experience of the travel industry together with his track record of growth in an online marketing business make him an ideal choice to drive the business forward and deliver on our ambitious goals.

Morrison said: "I'm honoured and grateful to the board for the opportunity to lead this exceptional business. The Hostelworld Group has been very successful at delivering social travel experiences for almost 19 years, and I am looking forward to working with the Hostelworld team, the board, Hostellers and our partners to deliver the next phase of growth."

At 1600 BST, the shares were down 1.1% to 395.50p.