Christine Duffy, president and CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association, will become president of Carnival Cruise Lines on Feb. 1. She will replace Gerry Cahill, who retired Nov. 30 although he is serving as an advisor "for an unspecified time." Duffy will report to Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald.
"Christine is one of the most respected and dynamic leaders in the travel industry," Donald said. "She brings a wealth of experience to Carnival Cruise Lines that will help the cruise line continue to deliver unmatched vacation experiences to millions of guests each year."
With more than 30 years of experience in the travel industry, Duffy become the head of CLIA in 2010. Before that, she served as president and CEO of Maritz Travel, a corporate meeting and incentive company, from 2004-2010. She started her career as a travel agent at McGettigan Partners in Philadelphia.
At CLIA, she led the globalization of cruise industry associations around the world. More recently, she retooled the organization's membership programs to reflect the growing number of independent travel agents who work at home as independent contractors or franchise owners. CLIA includes more than 13,000 travel agency members representing over 50,000 travel agents.
One of her challenges at Carnival is to help the company continue rebuilding its relationship with travel agents, who were angered when the company made a series of unpopular decisions in 2012. By June 2013, the company launched Carnival Conversations to reach out to agents, who were vital to rebuilding business after a series of incidents that generated negative publicity, most notably when the Carnival Triumph lost power in February 2013. The program made plenty of headway, but some agents privately say they still sell away from Carnival.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for me to be part of a dynamic organization with a long history of innovation and industry firsts," Duffy said. "The name Carnival is truly synonymous with cruising and I look forward to joining this talented team to continue the tradition of excellence that has made Carnival Cruise Lines one of the top cruise lines in the world."
Duffy also serves on the board of the U.S. Travel Association, the advisory board for Starwood Hotels, and the board for Visit Florida.
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