Joni Rein, Carnival Cruise Line's vice president of worldwide sales, will depart the company effective Aug. 1. A high-profile executive at travel agent conferences, she was the public face of the Carnival Conversations program, which worked to restore the sometimes contentious relationship with travel agents.
"My decision to depart the company was a difficult one, but I feel it's the right time with brand and trade sentiment at their current levels and an incredible executive leadership team in place, all of whom I respect tremendously," Rein said in a company statement.
Rein joined Carnival in 2008 as vice president of field sales and was named to her current position in 2009. Before that, she was vice president of sales development for the North American office of Costa Cruises, a sister company of Carnival.
No replacement has been named yet. After Aug. 1, Rein will act as a consultant reporting directly to Lynn Torrent, executive vice president of sales and guest services for Carnival, through the end of the year.
"Joni and her team have worked very hard in recent years to enhance and expand our travel agent relationships and have made great strides in gaining stronger trust and support from the trade," Carnival President Christine Duffy said. "The commitment of these efforts is reflected in the tremendous progress of our most recent trade survey results. Joni's leadership and guidance have laid the foundation for this excellent progress and we are extremely grateful for her commitment and dedication to this work."
Rein and her team launched numerous trade support, education and engagement initiatives, including Carnival Conversations, which reached out to travel agents after several policies were unpopular with retailers. The team also created the Carnival Passport online education tool, completed dozens of major investments and upgrades to the travel agent Internet portal GoCCL.com, implemented a dedicated trade engagement team, and created the agent rewards program.
"I have worked with Joni for more than 25 years now and, while her departure is bittersweet, we all respect and support her decision to start a new chapter in her life," Torrent said. "We appreciate the numerous positive contributions she has made to the company and she leaves us on the highest note she could in her career with Carnival."
Rein joined the travel industry more than 32 years ago as director of marketing for Certified Vacations. In addition, she held executive sales positions with Renaissance Cruises and Online Vacation Center.
"I couldn't have asked for a better group of sales professionals to work with than the team here at Carnival," Rein said. "I've always said they are the best and most experienced team in the industry and I'll miss them as well as the entire Carnival family greatly."
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