WHY IT RATES: A handful of industry veterans with proven success have been promoted or added to newly created roles within the global lifestyle and travel company.- Patrick Clarke, TravelPulse Senior Editor
A&K Travel Group Ltd., the global lifestyle and travel company that owns Abercrombie & Kent, Crystal Cruises and Cox & Kings, is staffing up in response to the post-pandemic resurgence in luxury travel.
"With our acquisition of two Crystal ships, we have been hard at work sourcing some of the industry's finest talent to bring the iconic brand back to life," announced Cristina Levis, A&K Travel Group CEO. "We are also reorganizing and promoting from within the Abercrombie & Kent organization to respond to the dramatic post-pandemic growth in the luxury travel market."
Fabio Agostini recently joined the A&K Travel Group as Chief Information Officer. His mission is to design and implement an innovative information management system to connect customers and suppliers. He previously played a similar role at Silversea for many years, after working in business intelligence and customer relationship management.
As previously announced, leading the team rebuilding Crystal Cruises is Jack Anderson as President, who brings over 30 years of experience in the cruise and tour industries, having served in leadership roles at Seabourn, Carnival, Holland America and Windstar.
Kim R. Berman has been named Chief Legal and People Officer for the A&K Travel Group. She spent the last four years as the General Counsel and Senior Vice President, People & Culture at The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, after serving as Silversea's Group Counsel for almost 14 years. She will oversee all aspects of the legal and human resources departments.
Andrew Burrett in his role as Group Chief Financial Officer for A&K Travel Group will also create and lead all Finance functions for Crystal Cruises. Prior to joining A&K last year, he spent the previous 15 years in global CFO roles, most recently for the Rubbermaid division of Newell Brands, and prior to that for Cable & Wireless Communications and Electrolux businesses for North and South America.
Fernando Delgado Vintimilla will take on the newly created position of Chief Product Officer, responsible for the conceptualization of what the guest experience should be at A&K-owned camps, lodges and riverboats. His hospitality background includes experience as a hotelier managing the "Best Luxury Hotel in South America" and serving as Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations for the Silversea expedition fleet.
Camille Drevillon was promoted to A&K Travel Group Chief of Staff, responsible for the strategic direction across A&K's divisions and products. She previously led commercial strategy and itinerary planning for Hurtigruten, as well as serving as Corporate Treasurer and Head of Corporate Finance at Silversea Cruises. Prior to joining the travel industry in 2011, she worked in Investment Banking in the U.S. and the U.K.
Martin Froggatt has been named the Chief Destination Officer and will continue to head A&K's Destination Management Companies and Sanctuary Retreats Camps, Lodges and Riverboats. Previously, under his leadership, the expeditions portfolio at Travelopia, which included Quark Expeditions and TCS World Travel, became market leaders through an unwavering focus on delivering the best customer experience.
Kerry Golds has been promoted to Chief Tour Operating Officer for the A&K Travel Group, responsible for all facets of tour operations across the company's U.S., U.K. and Australian source markets. She joined A&K as Managing Director in the U.K. in 2013 and led the acquisition and integration of Cox & Kings into the A&K family. Kerry's career spans 37 years in travel and tour operations, with a strong focus on the luxury segment.
"Travel professionals will be particularly interested in learning that Fernando Barroso de Oliveira will be joining the A&K Travel Group as Chairman and Brands Ambassador," said Co-Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio. "He has worked at sea since 1975, most recently as Senior Cruise Director and Chairman's Ambassador to the Venetian Society, Silversea's loyalty program. In his new role, he will help raise awareness of the Crystal, Abercrombie & Kent, and Cox & Kings brands worldwide, reinforcing our presence in current source markets and destinations, and exploring new opportunities."
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