Pictured: Stuart Leven left, Ben Bouldin right
Royal Caribbean has promoted Stuart Leven to vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa and named Ben Bouldin as his successor as associate vice president and UK & Ireland managing director.
Leven will now be “tri-branded”, assuming responsibility for Royal Caribbean across the whole of the region including the UK, and for sister brands Celebrity and Azamara in all European, Middle Eastern and African markets, except for the UK.
He will continue to report to senior vice president of international business Gavin Smith, who took over from Dominic Paul earlier this year.
The recruitment process for Bouldin’s replacement as UK and Ireland sales director is underway.
Leven, who was appointed as Royal Caribbean UK & Ireland managing director in 2013, said there was huge opportunity to grow European markets.
“We have seen unprecedented growth in the UK market for the Royal brand and we’re now looking wider at the European market where we haven’t invested as much.
“A total of 6.6million Europeans chose to cruise in 2015, which is just 1% of the total European holiday market, compared to a market penetration of 5% for cruising in the UK, so there’s a massive opportunity for growth,” he said.
“My plan is to take some of the methodology and tools we’ve developed in the UK over the last three years, such as our Club Royal loyalty programme for agents, and roll them out in other markets.”
Leven said Royal Caribbean had a ship coming into service every year for the 10 years from 2018, and so intends to secure some of that new ‘hardware’ into European ports.
“We have to recognise Europe as a growing market in order to unlock that deployment,” he said. “We’ve made multi-million dollar investments into port infrastructure in Southampton and Barcelona and are currently investing in the Fiumicino port near the airport for Rome. You don’t make investments like these in port infrastructure unless you’re really serious about growing a market.”
Leven said the UK also had potential to grow much further.
“5% market penetration is just the tip of the iceberg in the UK. It can go much further and with a leader like Ben, who always wants to stay ahead of the pack, he will set the bar high.”
Leven said Royal was “flattered” by other lines replicating initiatives like its agent loyalty scheme and said he was encouraged by more lines basing ships in the UK in the coming years.
“The more the merrier – it just amplifies the noise around cruise which can only be a good thing,” he said.
Bouldin, who joined Royal Caribbean from PepsiCo in 2014, added: “I’m delighted to be leading the Royal Caribbean International UK and Ireland business. We have an extraordinary team and I look forward to building on the work Stuart has started.”