Azamara taps former Silversea president in vp sales/marketing role

'The current team has done an outstanding job in placing Azamara in a successful position and now with Ellen on board, her notable experience in the diverse luxury travel market, impressive leadership skills and prominent industry relationships will help us to achieve our growth strategy,' Azamara president and ceo Larry Pimentel said.

Bettridge will oversee the overall sales and marketing initiatives for Azamara in South, Central and North America. Her responsibilities include the development of strategic relationships with trade and marketing partners as well as the creation and implementation of long-term strategies to further grow Azamara’s markets in the Americas.

'Throughout my career I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to cultivate relationships with key trade partners and I’m confident they will prove to be a great asset for the brand,' Bettridge said.

From April 2012 until January 2014, Bettridge served as president for the Americas at Silversea, where she developed sales strategies and executed marketing campaigns in the US, Canada and Latin America. Most recently she had a short stint as president of Unique Vacations, the Miami-based Americas representative of Sandals Resorts International.

Prior to Silversea, Bettridge spent more than 20 years with American Express. There she began her career as a travel agent in 1990 and worked from the grassroots level to a key management position as vp of the Retail Travel Business, where she oversaw the management of travel and financial services of 28 owned locations in the US and managed 300 employees and 150 franchisee partners.