Solmar Villas recently promoted Lewis Cooper from Business Development Manager to the newly created role of Head of Distribution.
Travel Gossip found out a bit more about him in our regular Friday feature, in which he revealed he worked as a performer at Disneyland Paris and has a tendency to overthink things.
I never travel without… toothbrush, phone, hair products, and a ridiculous amount of overthinking about whether I’ve packed everything.
The famous person (dead or alive) I’d most like to sit next to on a plane is… Alan Carr. He’d have me in hysterics for the entire flight.
My weakness is… overthinking. I can turn the smallest decision into a full-blown internal debate!
The next place I’ll visit is… Zakynthos, Greece. I’ll be staying at two of our Solmar properties in October with the family, Alkyonides Wing and Alba Thesan. Next year, I’m looking at Montana in the US.
The last place I visited was… Italy. I had an amazing 17-day trip combining Italy, Montenegro and Croatia. Absolutely beautiful places, although running around Rome in nearly 40-degree heat was a challenge.
My bucket-list destination is…Borneo. I absolutely love orangutans.
Born and brought up in… Solihull, West Midlands, before moving overseas at 18.
Live in… the beautiful Derbyshire countryside. I’ve just sold my house, though, so I’m looking to move towards Warwickshire and the Cotswolds to be nearer family.
The best piece of advice I’ve been given is… I actually read this online recently and it really humbled me: “If everyone in the world wrote down their problems and put them into a hat, would you risk grabbing one, or would you keep yours?” It’s a good reminder that, however difficult things can feel, there’s always perspective to be found.
If I could eat one meal for the rest of my life it would be… a good Sunday roast with all the trimmings.
The emoji I use most often is…😅 – I probably use it far more than necessary.
The thing I miss most while travelling is… our spoiled, much-adored cocker spaniel, Winston. He ruins my holidays because I constantly miss him and feel guilty for leaving him.
When I left school, I wanted to be… a musical theatre performer or TV presenter. I studied musical theatre and, at 18, moved to Paris to perform in shows and parades at Disneyland Paris, with ambitions of eventually working in TV. I then met my partner and chose a different path away from city life, so those dreams have taken a back seat.
The thing I’m most proud of is… the fact that I’ve always worked hard, saved, invested and never expected anything to be handed to me. If I put my mind to something, I’ll make it happen. At the same time, I’ve always lent a hand to support others, champion those around me and speak up when it matters.
In my new role, I’ll be… heading up our distribution department, looking after our valued wholesale, trade and OTA partnerships and teams. My role is essentially about growing and strengthening our distribution network, developing key relationships and making sure we’re working as effectively as possible with our partners to support our business and the wider industry.
What attracted me to the job was… the opportunity to have a much bigger impact. I’d already built up strong relationships and experience within the business and with our wholesale partners, so the chance to take that to the next level as Head of Distribution, lead a wider team and shape our distribution strategy is an exciting challenge.
The first thing I notice about a person when I meet them is… their energy. You can usually get a pretty good sense of someone from how they interact with you.
If I won the Lottery tomorrow, I would… probably panic for about five minutes and debate what I should do first 😅. I’d look after my family, take some time off to travel, then buy my dream farmhouse in the countryside and adopt lots of farm animals.
