Experts

Mathias Friess opened the North American headquarters of Webjet.com in April of 2010 in Tampa, Florida. Friess is the Chief Executive Officer and part owner of the North American offices. His vision is to bring low-cost international travel fares to the Americas while providing the utmost in customer service and support.The Australian office, Webjet.com.au, is the largest online travel agency in Australia and the Pacific, whereas; their US office is one of the top ten most popular online travel agencies in the United States.Born in Germany, Friess has extensive experience in the travel industry and global business operations. Friess began his career with Lufthansa Airlines, holding several positions in management before representing the carrier out of Buenos Aires as the Country Manager of Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. Later, he was promoted to head Lufthansa’s North American sales based in New York City during the most difficult times in the airline industry, post 9/11.Before joining Webjet.com in Australia, Friess worked with the management team with Virgin Blue Airlines as Head of Global Sales and Distribution. During his tenure with Virgin, the airline underwent a transformation from low-cost carrier to new World carrier which included the launch of a three class long haul airline, Virgin Australia in 2009.Since the inception of Webjet.com’s North American offices, Friess has grown the company from nothing to over $100 million in ticket revenues. He has increased his staff exponentially and has relocated to a larger office space to accommodate the growth.Friess received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Ravensburg in Germany. Friess lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife Carren and his two young daughters.