Celebrity Cruises has appointed a commercial sales director following the departure of Nicki Tempest-Mitchell.
The line has appointed Sarah Harraghy in the newly-created role and she will take up her new position in October.
For the past 10 years Harraghy has worked as a strategic consultant to businesses in the travel and retail sector, including Celebrity Cruises and RCL Cruises for the past five years.
Harraghy has also been involved in the development of the strategic focus of Clia and has consulted with brands including Thomas Cook, Saga Holidays, Holiday Autos, Virgin Holidays and Lastminute.com.
Reporting into UK and Ireland managing director Jo Rzymowska, Harraghy will oversee the line’s 24-person trade sales, trade sales support and commercial teams. She will be responsible for all of the line’s UK and Ireland distribution channels.
Speaking to Travel Weekly, Rzymowska said: “I’m very excited about this because I’ve been working closely with Sarah in her role as an external consultant for five years.
“She’s always been very passionate about the brand and that is crucial for me; she also already has very strong ties across our team, from the sales team to the marketing team and revenue team.
“Sarah has also worked very closely with the executive board at Clia and Andy Harmer, so she has a passion for cruise and like everyone else, she’s fallen in love with the sector.”
Rzymowska said Harraghy would spend her first few weeks meeting with agents and getting to know key trade partners.
“By the end of October, Sarah will have met all key agent partners and she will have attended the Travel Convention with me. It’s a very exciting time for entire team.”
In the interim, Claire Stirrup and Michael English have been leading the sales team.