Silversea Europe managing director Andreas Nuessel is to take on responsibility for the UK, Irish, Middle East and African markets, as industry veteran Peter Shanks prepares to retire after 45 years in the travel industry.
Nuessel becomes managing director UK & EMEA and will appoint a standalone managing director for the UK & Ireland, who will report into him.
Shanks has spent the last seven years of his career at Silversea and is due to retire from his role as managing director for the UK, Ireland, Middle East and Africa by the end of June after working with Nuessel to ensure a “smooth handover”.
The luxury ocean and expedition line’s president Bert Hernandez paid tribute to Shanks’s “invaluable contributions” to the brand and wider industry, as he also congratulated Nuessel on his promotion.
Nuessel has worked in the industry for more than 25 years and first joined Silversea in 2012, before rejoining the brand as managing director for Europe in 2020.
He will continue to report to Barbara Biffi, senior vice-president of global sales.
Shanks’s contribution to the sector was recognised at this year’s Travel Weekly Globe Awards, when he scooped the coveted Outstanding Achievement Award.
In an interview following his win, he said: “All the way through [my career] I was lucky to have the opportunity to work with brilliant people.
“This [award] is really for all the people who have supported me and who I’ve had the pleasure of working with over many years… it means an awful lot to me.”
Pictured left to right: Peter Shanks at the Travel Weekly Globe Awards 2025 and Andreas Nuessel.