Carnival Cruise Line Australia has announced the appointment of Mark Richards as its national sales manager.
In this newly created role, Richards will be responsible for leading Carnival’s trade sales team in Australia, along with managing key relationships with travel agent partners to continue to support them and grow their cruise business.
Richards joined the Carnival sales team in October 2013 following five years with Creative Holidays.
For the last (almost) eight years, he has been responsible for driving the cruise line’s sales for the region of Queensland, northern NSW and the Northern Territory, along with managing the national Flight Centre account.
Anton Loeb, senior director of sales and marketing at Carnival Cruise Line Australia, said Richards’ passion, knowledge and enthusiasm for the brand were second to none.
“He has consistently led from the front when it comes to sales performances and driving business through the trade, which has made him a well-respected figure in the industry and our internal teams,” Loeb said.
“He now gets to bring those skills to our wider sales team.
“I am excited to be working with Mark in this new role, and can’t wait to see what he has in store for our travel agent ‘rockstars’ as we get closer to resuming cruising in our region.”
As a proud Queenslander, Richards is counting down the days until Carnival Spirit arrives in her new, year-round, homeport of Brisbane.
“I am really excited to lead Carnival’s trade dedicated sales team as we continue to work with our amazing travel agent partners,” he said.
With Richards moving into his new role, Lance Dye will take on the Flight Centre account, Sarah Miller adds home-based agency networks to her portfolio, Kim Ryan assumes responsibility for automobile clubs and Emma Judge expands her area in Queensland.
The changes come not long after Carnival announced the departure of longtime Aussie vice president Jennifer Vandekreeke, with Kara Glamore named as her replacement.
