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A&K Travel Group staffs up, including former Silversea Cruises figures

A&K Travel Group, which acquired Crystal Cruises and also owns Abercrombie & Kent and Cox & Kings, is staffing up including a handful of former Silversea Cruises figures.

Anne Kalosh, Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

November 7, 2022

3 Min Read
Credit: Seatrade Cruise News

'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 reorganizing and promoting from within the Abercrombie & Kent organization to respond to the dramatic post-pandemic growth in the luxury travel market.'

Among the former Silversea executives are Fabio Agostini, Kim Berman, Fernando Delgado Vintimilla and Fernando Barroso de Oliveira. Camille Drevillon, also a Silversea veteran and already with A&K, was promoted.

A&K Travel Group is co-chaired/owned by Geoffrey Kent and Heritage Group, chaired by Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio, the former owner of Silversea. Lefebvre cashed out of Silversea in July 2020 when Royal Caribbean Group acquired his remaining minority stake.

Fabio Agostini

Agostini joins A&K Travel Group as chief information officer, tasked with designing and implementing an innovative information management system to connect customers and suppliers. He held a similar role at Silversea for 13 years after working in business intelligence and customer relationship management.

Kim Berman

Berman was appointed chief legal and people officer. She spent the last four years as general counsel and SVP people & culture at The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, after serving as Silversea’s group counsel for almost 14 years. She will oversee all aspects of the legal and human resources departments.

Andrew Burrett

As group CFO, Andrew Burrett will also create and lead all finance functions for Crystal Cruises. Prior to joining A&K last year, he spent the previous 15 years in global CFO roles, most recently for the Rubbermaid division of Newell Brands, and prior to that for Cable & Wireless Communications and Electrolux businesses for North and South America.

Camille Drevillon

Drevillon was promoted from SVP strategic planning and business development, Abercrombie & Kent, to A&K Travel Group chief of staff, responsible for the strategic direction across A&K’s divisions and products. Previous roles include leading commercial strategy and itinerary planning for Hurtigruten and corporate treasurer and head of corporate finance at Silversea. Before joining the travel industry in 2011, Drevillon worked in investment banking in the US and the UK.

Martin Froggatt

Froggatt was named chief destination officer and will continue to head A&K’s Destination Management Companies and Sanctuary Retreats Camps, Lodges and Riverboats. Previously, he led the expeditions portfolio at Travelopia, which included Quark Expeditions and TCS World Travel.

Kerry Golds

Golds was promoted to chief tour operating officer for the A&K Travel Group, responsible for all facets of tour operations across the company’s US, UK and Australian source markets. She joined A&K as managing director in the UK in 2013 and led the acquisition and integration of Cox & Kings. Golds' career spans 37 years in travel and tour operations, with a strong focus on the luxury segment.

Fernando Delgado Vintimilla

Delgado will take on the newly created position of chief product officer, responsible for conceptualizing the guest experience at A&K-owned camps, lodges and riverboats. He previously oversaw Silversea's Galápagos operations and was global head of hotel operations for Silversea's expedition fleet. Prior roles were managing hotels in South America and hotel manager for Quasar Expeditions.

Fernando Barroso de Oliveira

It had already emerged that de Oliveira, who had a long association with Silversea — most recently serving as president's ambassador to the Venetian Society, the line's loyalty program — was following Manfredi Lefebvre to A&K. In his new role, as chairman's and brands ambassador, 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 said.

About the Author

Anne Kalosh

Editor, Seatrade Cruise News & Senior Associate Editor, Seatrade Cruise Review

Anne Kalosh covers global stories, reporting both breaking and in-depth news on cruising's significant people, places, ships and trends. A sought-after expert on cruising, she has moderated conferences around the world, including the high-profile State of the Industry panel at Seatrade Cruise Global. She created and led the acclaimed itinerary-planning case study for Seatrade's cruise master classes held at Cambridge and Oxford universities. She has been the cruise columnist for AFAR.com, and her freelance stories have appeared in a wide range of publications, from The New York Times to The Miami Herald.

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