WHY IT RATES: Scenic Group anticipates future growth with new promotions and appointments. - Lacey Pfalz, Associate Writer, TravelPulse
Scenic Group, which includes Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Emerald Cruises, continues to strengthen its global leadership team with the addition of two highly-regarded industry veterans and internal promotions.
As Scenic Group looks to increase its fleet of luxury and ultra-luxury yachts, it has looked to beef up its ocean team and recently recruited luxury tourism industry professional Claudius Docekal, who has joined the global senior leadership team as Vice President of Product - Ocean. This key strategic hire is part of a larger restructure which enables the business to achieve its ambitious future growth plans. Docekal joins Scenic Group with more than 30 years of industry experience. His most recent role was vice president, deployment at Crystal Cruises where he oversaw the Crystal Yacht & Expedition Cruises brands. Prior to this he held senior positions at Azamara Club Cruises and SeaDream Yacht Club.
To further support the ambitious growth plans and with the arrival next year of two new ocean yachts - Scenic Eclipse II and Emerald Sakara - Scenic Group has also hired Bert Goebel as Vice President of Hotel Operations - Ocean. Goebel joins the business from Crown & Champa Resort Hotel Group in the Maldives and has many years hotel operations experience working for various cruise lines such as Oceania, Regent and Aida to name a few and will report to Mark Robinson Senior Vice President of Operations.
Besides the hiring of Docekal and Goebel, Scenic Group is delighted to announce the internal promotion of Elisabeth Sadler to Vice President of Product - Rivers. Having joined the group back in 2014 as part of the initial Emerald Cruises start up team, Sadler will move to oversee all river product on behalf of both Emerald Cruises and Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and report to Rob Voss, Scenic Group's Chief Operating Officer.
Voss commented: "Claudius joins us at a very exciting time, as we continue to focus on growth in global markets and our unwavering delivery of first-class guest experiences across our cruising portfolio. Elisabeth has been instrumental in the development of the Emerald Cruises brand showcasing best in class product development. Her passion and knowledge for river cruising ensures we will continue to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. I look forward to working very closely with them both over the coming months."
Two additional promotions names Director Marine Operations Captain James Griffiths as the new Vice President of Marine & Port Operations and Sepp Dendl, who was previously Director of Hotel Operations - Rivers, to Vice President of Hotel Operations - Rivers. Both Griffiths and Dendl will continue to report to Mark Robinson.
Robinson offered his own praise, "I'm delighted that Bert has joined the group just as we double our ocean capacity from two ocean vessels to four in 2023. Goebel brings a wealth of operational knowledge to the group having previously worked for the past four years in the luxury hotel sector and prior to that, holding various senior operational roles in luxury cruises lines for the past 25 years. Goebel will lead our onboard operational teams ensuring our award-winning service continues to develop and deliver the 'wonder' to our guests and enhance our service offerings on our ocean fleet."
Scenic Group, which includes Emerald Cruises, Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, and Mayflower Cruises & Tours has grown over its 36-year history to include award-winning, river and ocean cruises and handcrafted land journeys that take guests to many of the world's most fascinating destinations covering all seven continents. Since 2008, Scenic has set the benchmark for truly all-inclusive, five-star river cruises in Europe and Southeast Asia. In 2019, Scenic introduced Scenic Eclipse, The World's First Discovery Yacht™, a 228-guest ultra-luxury ship, and plans to deliver a second yacht of the same category, Scenic Eclipse II, in 2023. Emerald Cruises has nine branded Star-Ships offering river sailings across Europe and on the Mekong. In March 2022, Emerald Azzurra was the first oceangoing yacht to launch under the Emerald Cruises brand-a 100-guest luxury yacht that will sail the warm waters of the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Red seas. In 2023 a second yacht, Emerald Sakara, will launch.
Scenic can be found on Twitter at @ScenicLuxury, on Facebook as ScenicCruises and on Instagram as Scenic.luxurycruisestours, while Emerald Cruises can be found on Twitter at @emerald_cruises, on Facebook as EmeraldCruisesGlobal and on Instagram as @EmeraldCruises.global.
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