Brandon Townsley becomes Celestyal's MD for North America

He'll report to UK-based Chief Commercial Officer Lee Haslett.

'My intent is to position Celestyal as the leading provider of award-winning, multi-destination cruise and tour vacation experiences in Greece, the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond,' Townsley said. To do that, he'll develop and execute a strategic business plan for North America, build tour packages and craft training for the trade.

Experience at Crystal, Atlas, MSC, Virgin, NCL, Royal Caribbean

Townsley was VP sales & trade partnerships at Crystal for the past year during the company's restart under new ownership, and the line will announce his replacement shortly. He had also been with Crystal before its shutdown. Before that, Townsley was VP sales & trade partnerships at Atlas Ocean Voyages, director of business development & strategy with Virgin Voyages and director, strategic & online accounts, MSC Cruises USA.

Earlier, Townsley spent nearly 16 years at Norwegian Cruise Line in various sales and analyst roles. He began his career at Royal Caribbean as a revenue management analyst.

Haslett expressed the confidence that Townsley will help Celestyal 'realize the full potential of the North American market.'