National Geographic has announced Nathan Philpot as its director of travel at National Geographic Partners, Europe and Africa.
The appointment comes as National Geographic looks to launch expedition cruises and private tours in Europe.
Philpot was sales and marketing director of Fred Olsen Cruises until July last year after five years at the company and most recently founded online cruise comparison site The Cruise Checker. He previously worked at Page & Moy, Elegant Resorts, Kuoni and Wexas.
Philpot will join the organisation in April 2017 to develop and launch branded consumer travel experiences across Europe and Africa including cruises, eco-lodges and multi-destination hosted trips.
He said “Experiential travel is seeing phenomenal growth across all sectors, including luxury travel, escorted touring, and in expedition cruising, which is seeing an unprecedented amount of investment in new ships.
“Authentic travel experiences are no longer niche but a mandatory requirement to put on any itinerary and there is no brand in the world better placed to lead adventure travel than National Geographic.
“I look forward to launching a variety of products across Europe such as the expedition cruises offered by eight branded National Geographic ships and Round-the-World Private Jet Adventures.”
The company has also employed Maria Maranesi as vice president consumer product for NGP Europe & Africa in a move to ‘bolster its regional operations’. She previously worked for toy manufacturer Mattel.
Both positions will report to Deborah Armstrong, executive vice president National Geographic Partners, Europe & Africa.