Cosmos has promoted Janet Parton to director of sales from her position as head of sales, Cosmos and Avalon Waterways.
In her previous role she has helped build a community of agents, partners and customers and drove “significant traffic and leads” through strategic sales initiatives for the escorted tour operator.
Parton was a pivotal figure in communicating the operator’s rebrand to travel trade earlier this year and was involved in targeting new markets for luxury river line Avalon Waterways.
“During her tenure as head of sales, Janet displayed outstanding leadership abilities, an enthusiasm for sales, a passion for cruising and touring holidays and extensive product knowledge,” said Giles Hawke, chief executive of Cosmos and Avalon Waterways.
“She has played a vital role in developing and strengthening our trade network and in growing the Cosmos and Avalon brands in the UK. Her genuine spirit and wealth of expertise are essential during this next period of exponential growth for us.”
Parton has more than 20 years’ experience working in sales, including senior sales positions at Carnival UK and MSC Cruises and is currently chair of the Trade Engagement Committee for CLIA UK and Ireland.
She leads a team of three trade account managers, including newly-appointed Danielle Radford who will cover the north of England. Radford has more than 13 years’ experience working with the trade and has held previous positions with Thomas Cook, Redsea Holidays and Balkan Holidays. She joins trade account managers Anna Hall and Kelly Calver.
Parton’s sales team will be dedicated to the travel agent community across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and has a combined industry experience of more than 70 years. Part of their roles will be developing new tools and programs to make it easier and fun to sell Avalon’s river cruises and Cosmos’ tours to more than 80 countries worldwide.
“Cosmos and Avalon truly value the importance of agent business,” said Parton. “We know that travel agents will always be an integral part of consumers’ booking processes in the UK. Our team is devoted to fostering strong and long-lasting relationships with the trade and to provide the best in class service, product training and sales tools.”