Ex-Costa boss jumps ship to easyCruise
Former Costa Cruises managing director Paul Ellerby has joined easyCruise as interim sales and marketing director while the cruise line hunts for a chief executive.
He has initially joined on a three-month contact with easyCruise stressing it will be up to the new CEO to select their own longer-term management team.
Ellerby himself, however, has been tipped as one of the front runners for the top job.
Ellerby quit Costa in January after five years as MD, explaining he wanted to “pursue a new career challenge.”
He told TravelMole today: “The opportunity arose to join easyCruise on an interim basis. I only became aware they were looking at a broader structure during dialogue with Stelios but that it a very seperate issue to why I was brought in.”
He refused to be drawn on the chief executive role but admitted he would be keen to stay on a longer-term basis if the current job goes well.
Ellerby will have a five-point plan over the next three months, including improving yield management and revenues, marketing and developing relationships with the UK trade.
Encouraging non-cruise agents to start selling the product and ensuring they know the difference between easyCruise and more traditional cruise lines will be among the key aims.
“Around 70% of our customers are under 40,” said Ellerby. “We’re keen for the trade to get behind us and we need agents with a younger database and who can take advantage of our online proposition.”
EasyCruise said his in-depth knowledge of the cruise industry and its sales and distribution methods will benefit the company as it “gears up for growth.”
Report by Steve Jones
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