Virgin Voyages has appointed Carnival UK’s director of trade engagement and onboard sales Shane Riley to head up its international sales.
The new cruise line will start operations in 2020 when the first of its 2,800 new build vessels comes into service.
Riley, who will be UK based, will join the operator on May 21 and he will report in to Stacy Shaw, vice president of sales and business development.
Shaw said she was “super excited” about the appointment – the first the line has made outside of north America.
She said: “As we bring the Virgin Voyages vision to life, Shane’s extensive knowledge of the UK travel industry and his genuine commitment to travel agents and their success make him the perfect choice to lead our efforts with the trade outside of north America.
“Given our British heritage at Virgin, the UK holds a special place in our hearts. This is a market that’s very important to us and we can’t think of anyone better to look after our partners there.
“In the latter part of this year, Shane’s focus will be on helping agency partners in the UK and other parts of the world understand the Virgin Voyages brand and who our sailors are.
“This will enable our partners to more easily identify the people who will love and appreciate a unique and differentiated experience at sea.
“As our very first UK based crew member, Shane will make history at Virgin Voyages. He’ll work alongside a brilliant sales team in north America to curate a very Virgin experience for our travel partners, or as we like to call them, our First Mates.
“While we’re not quite ready to do business just yet, we hope travel partners from around the world will reach out and say hello to us at firstmates@virginvoyages.com.”
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