28 March 2008

Royal Caribbean confirms new sales chief

Richard Roberts has been named as UK and Ireland sales director for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, joining from GB Airways.

He will drive the set-up and operation of a 30% larger (32-strong) sales team dedicated to the UK and Ireland trade.

Roberts was head of sales and distribution at GB Airways until the carrierÃ¢â¬â¢s acquisition by EasyJet.

He joins the cruise company on April 14 reporting to Jo Rzymowska, managing director, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises, UK and Ireland.

Roberts will oversee newly created dedicated sales teams for both Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises/Azamara Cruises.

Michael English will head the new Celebrity Cruises/Azamara Cruises sales team reporting to Roberts.

A head of sales for Royal Caribbean International is yet to be appointed.

The nine-strong national accounts sales team will be headed by Karen Doyle, who will also report to Roberts.

Roberts was general manager of the London call centre for American Express Europe and head of multimedia channels for Thomas Cook Interactive. He has also held senior sales roles at Vodafone, Group4 Securicor and CellJump.

Rzymowska said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœRichardÃ¢â¬â¢s experience demonstrates that Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is serious about delivering the very best sales support to our travel partners.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are aggressively targeting growth in the UK and Ireland markets and part of this involves developing the untapped potential of Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises.Ã¢â¬~

by Phil Davies