A&K Travel Group Ltd., the travel company that owns Abercrombie & Kent, Crystal Cruises and Cox & Kings, has announced a number of key new staff and internal promotions as the business begins staffing up in response to the post-pandemic resurgence in luxury travel.
Among the latest recruits are high-level executives and popular faces from other cruise lines including The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Hurtigruten and Silversea. Arguably, the most recognisable new face to join A&K Travel Group is Silversea’s former brand ambassador, Fernando Barroso de Oliveira.
de Oliveira was most recently Senior Cruise Director and Chairman’s Ambassador to the Venetian Society, the popular loyalty program of Silvesea Cruises. He also served as the face of Silversea’s new season program launch events which were produced as mini cinematic-like showcases.
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“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,” said Cristina Levis, A&K Travel Group CEO.
“We are also reorganising and promoting from within the Abercrombie & Kent organisation to respond to the dramatic post-pandemic growth in the luxury travel market,” Lewis said.
“Travel professionals will be particularly interested in learning that Fernando Barroso de Oliveira will be joining the A&K Travel Group as Chairman’s and Brands Ambassador,” said Co-Chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, who previously owned and operated Silversea Cruises before selling the brand to Royal Caribbean Group. “He has worked at sea since 1975.”
“In his new role, he will help raise awareness of the Crystal, Abercrombie & Kent, and Cox & Kings brands around the world, reinforcing our presence in current source markets and destinations, and exploring new opportunities,” Lefebvre d’Ovidio added.
Also among the new team are:
- Fabio Agostini as Chief Information Officer for A&K Travel Group. He previously played a similar role at Silversea for many years, after working in business intelligence and customer relationship management.
- Kim R. Berman as Chief Legal and People Officer for 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.
- Andrew Burrett as Group Chief Financial Officer for A&K Travel Group, and lead of all Finance functions for Crystal Cruises. Prior to joining A&K last year, he spent the previous 15 years in global CFO roles in non-travel or cruise businesses.
- Fernando Delgado Vintimlla to the newly created position of Chief Product Officer, tasked with the conceptualisation of what the guest experience should be at A&K-owned camps, lodges and riverboats. His background includes serving as Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations for the Silversea expedition fleet.
- Camille Drevillon has been promoted to A&K Travel Group Chief of Staff. 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.
- Martin Froggatt as Chief Destination Officer. He will continue to lead A&K’s DMCs and Sanctuary Retreats Camps, Lodges and Riverboats. His background included a stint leading the expedition portfolio of Travelopia, which included Quark Expeditions.
- And Kerry Golds, who has been promoted to Chief Tour Operating Officer for A&K Travel Group. Golds will be responsible for all facets of tour operations across the company’s US, UK and Australian source markets. She has been with A&K since 2013 in the UK, and led the acquisition and integration of Cox & Kings into the A&K family.
