CarTrawler names Peter O'Donovan as chief executive Cormac Barry's successor

The car rental and mobility tech specialist's chief operating officer for the past four years to take over the hot seat at the Dublin-based firm

by Aidan Poole

The B2B car rental and mobility technology specialist CarTrawler has announced its chief operations officer will become the new chief executive.

Peter O’Donovan has worked as CarTrawler’s COO for four years and will succeed Cormac Barry, who is leaving the Dublin-based firm for personal reasons.

O’Donovan also arrives as chief executive with 14 years of experience at gambling company Paddy Power, now called Flutter Entertainment, in roles including manager director of online and chief product officer.

In his total of six years at CarTrawler, he has led a team to secure partnerships with major travel firms and create a revenue management function and platform.

His appointment comes as CarTrawler is seeing revenues rise, with profitability close to pre-COVID levels and more growth expected in next year.

Patrick Kennedy, CarTrawler chairman, said: “The Board, including Cormac, has had a long-term focus on succession planning. We feel fortunate to have such a natural successor.

“Peter is an exceptional leader, who has deep knowledge of the travel sector and e-commerce, making him the ideal person to lead CarTrawler at a very exciting time for the business.

“We would like to thank Cormac for his commitment and leadership and wish him the very best for the future.”

O’Donovan said: “I am honoured and excited to be appointed as the chief executive of CarTrawler.

“Due to its industry-leading technology, revenue management and e-commerce capabilities, CarTrawler is ideally positioned to continue to take advantage of the recovery in travel.

“I worked closely with Cormac and Patrick and now look forward to leading our talented people in offering great commercial opportunities to our travel partners.” 

Barry, chief executive of CarTrawler since early 2018, said: “After spending the last 12 years in CEO roles at CarTrawler and previously in Australia, I want to take a break to recharge the batteries.

“CarTrawler has emerged from the pandemic in excellent shape and is now entering the next phase of its development, so this felt like the right time for me to step down and hand the reins over to a proven leader, who is well known by the business and our partners.

“It has been a privilege to work with the CarTrawler team, our travel partners and our car rental suppliers. I remain a committed investor in CarTrawler and will be available to support the business over the coming months.”