After a successful first year of operating, Ambassador Cruise Line reveals it is now undertaking an important restructure of its commercial division and creating two new senior leadership roles within the department.
This restructure marks a key milestone for Ambassador. As the first cruise line to launch in the UK for a decade and selling over 50% of its first season in the first three months of going on sale, Ambassador is firmly transitioning out of start-up mode and looking forward to its long term business future.
The restructure is being headed up by Ambassador’s Chief Commercial Officer, Phil Gardner.
Phil, who has more than 20 years’ travel industry experience, aims to bring an increased focus on inventory management to Ambassador as well as aligning the company’s sales focus to avoid channel-level silos. The shake-up also includes an increased focus on day-to-day trading, with a move to a more fluid pricing model for the cruise company.
Phil Gardner, Chief Commercial Officer said: “The time is right for us to look at our commercial focus and make sure we are closely aligning to our ambitions for the future. Cruising is back in full swing with demand coming from both existing and new to cruise so we need to make sure Ambassador is ready to respond to the healthy interest from holidaymakers. This means the time is right to ensure we have a structure fit for purpose for the future.”
“As part of the restructure, we are recruiting for a Head of Inventory & Trading, and also for a Head of Distribution, a new sales function covering both the contact centre and trade sales. This will centralise both teams into a singular department meaning that our trade partners will now benefit from an end to end service under one roof, be it with calls into our contact centre or direct liaison with our trade sales team, both on the road and at head office. I am confident this new structure will give us a fantastic platform to build on with a team who can take us forward at an exciting time.”
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About Ambassador Cruise Line:
Ambassador Cruise Line is a brand-new premium-value cruise line. It is the first new British cruise line to be launched since 2010, offering no-fly cruises to the UK market.
Ambassador’s extremely experienced management team is led by Chief Executive Officer, Christian Verhounig supported by Chief Financial Officer, Matthias Seeger, Chief Commercial Officer, Philip Gardner, Chief Operating Officer, Nick Hughes, Chief Administrative Officer, Simon Weeks, Chief Technology Officer, Gary Hides, and Chief Marketing Officer, Gordon Nardini. The Chair of the Board of Directors is Gordon Wilson who has over 30 years of experience in the global travel industry. This includes his role as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Travelport until July 2019. He is also Chair of the Board of Interactive Investor, the second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform in the UK, and a member of the Supervisory Board of BCD Holdings which owns global corporate travel management company, BCD Travel and US airport car park operator, Park ‘N Fly. Njord Partners LLP, London is Ambassador’s main shareholder,
Guests can be confident of booking with Ambassador Cruise Line since, in addition to having insurance cover in place (as required by The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018), Ambassador also operates a fully independently managed Trust Account where guests’ funds are deposited and only released when the cruise departs. In the event a cruise is cancelled, all guests will be offered a full refund.
Ambience is the first ship to enter the Ambassador fleet, carrying up to 1,400 guests with 789 cabins, 11 guest decks, 70,285grt and a length of 245m. She has a crew of 608 from 27 nationalities and has been upgraded to operate at IMO Tier III from her inaugural voyage, placing her amongst the top 10%-15% of cruise ships to achieve this level of environmental operation. She operates a programme of departures to multiple destinations including the Grand Round the World Cruise, Nordics, Greenland, Iceland, Canada, and the Mediterranean from her home port of London Tilbury.
Ambassador’s second ship, Ambition, will enter service in May 2023, carrying 1,200 guests in 714 cabins, 10 guest decks. She will operate itineraries from London Tilbury but will also offer cruises from six UK regional departure ports including Newcastle, Dundee, Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol and Falmouth.
Ambassador is based in Purfleet, Essex.
For more information: www.ambassadorcruiseline.com
