A-Rosa has appointed its first UK head of sales as the river cruise line targets growth through the trade.
Stephen Joyner will lead the UK sales team, implement sales strategies and help develop existing trade relationships while also identifying new ones.
Joyner (pictured) starts his new position on October 7 and report into managing director Lucia Rowe.
Most recently, Joyner was sales director at car hire firm BSP Auto and before that he was head of trade sales at Affordable Car Hire.
He has also held several roles, including cruise club manager at The Travel Network Group, strategic account manager at Royal Caribbean International and consultant at Fred Olsen Travel, helping to introduce Pullmantur Cruises into the UK.
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Rowe said: “[Joyner] brings with him a wealth of experience both on the retail and supplier side, which I believe will be invaluable in the role.
“The trade is of paramount importance to A-Rosa in the UK and creating this new position will ensure we give it greater focus going forward.
“Stephen is a highly analytical and commercially astute professional, with a vast amount of experience in managing complex sales tasks and achieving ambitious sales targets, whilst being a great leader to his teams.
“He is also well known in the trade and his appointment will further reinforce our plans to develop and grow our partnerships here in the UK.”
Joyner said he was “excited” to be joining A-Rosa at a time when river cruise “continues to grow in popularity”.
“A-Rosa has successfully positioned itself as a significant player in the UK market in recent years,” he said. “My role will be to step things up a level and help drive A-Rosa’s ambitious development plans for the coming years.
“I want to bolster the brands UK presence further and announcements such as the groundbreaking new E-motion Rhine ship, entering the market in 2021, is one that I’m looking forward to showcasing with our trade partners as soon as more details are released.”