Scenic Group, the parent company of Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Emerald Cruises, has announced the promotion of Robert Castro to VP of marketing and the appointments of Elizabeth Fettes to VP of sales and Kayla Corbett to director of key and strategic accounts.
Castro joined Scenic Group USA in 2022 with more than a decade of cruise experience, having previously worked for Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International and Silversea Cruises. In his most recent role of senior director of marketing, Castro led the marketing strategy and operations including brand, digital and marketing services for the U.S. market.
Fettes joins the company following her role as chief sales and marketing officer for Premier Worldwide Marketing, where she led the design, development and delivery of sales and marketing solutions for a portfolio of hotels in the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe. She also brings cruise industry experience from tenures at Royal Caribbean International and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Elizabeth will oversee U.S.A. and Latin American sales via the company’s trade distribution network, sales support and trade partnerships, charter and MICE business and groups.
Corbett will report to Fettes. Her most recent role was as senior manager, key accounts at Norwegian Cruise Line; she began her career in the cruise industry working onboard ships as a loyalty and future cruise sales associate and a port shopping consultant. Kayla then came shoreside where she has served as a business development manager in the New York and New England region for MSC Cruises. She’s also served as the charters, incentive and future voyage sales manager for Virgin Voyages and corporate sales manager for the Midwest and Latin America regions for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Ann Chamberlin, current VP of Sales, will be departing the company to pursue other personal interests, as will Richard Hickey, current senior director of key accounts.
Celestyal is continuing to invest in growing key markets with the appointment of two senior members to its commercial team. Tobias Klitsch joins as vice president of global market development, while Beth Hulett has been named global market development manager.
Klitsch has held senior positions within the travel industry for 15 years. He joins Celestyal from PA Consulting, where, as a director, he worked with organizations across the aviation and travel verticals to deliver structural change, with a view towards driving long-term growth and commercial success. As Celestyal’s VP of global market development, Klitsch will design and execute the line’s commercial strategy. He will also provide analytical insight and partner with sales leaders to devise market-appropriate strategies to drive Celestyal’s growth plans.
Hulett comes to Celestyal with over eight years’ experience in the cruise industry. She joins from Virgin Voyages, where she worked with key U.K. partners to help drive sales in her role as sales manager. As global market development manager, she will support Klitsch in delivering a commercial strategy to deliver value for both Celestyal and its trade partners globally. She will also support the field-based account team across all channels in identifying opportunities. Hulett will report directly to Klitsch.
Swan Hellenic announced this week that Joe Maloney has been appointed vice president of sales, North America. Maloney is reporting directly to Alfredo Spadon, Swan Hellenic’s SVP of global sales and marketing. He joins with over 20 years of C-Suite cruise and travel industry experience, most recently as assistant vice president, travel product, at The Auto Club Group, and as vice president, USA sales and marketing, at Scenic USA. Prior to this, Joe spent a decade in similarly senior roles at The Travel Corporation.
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