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New talent at Carnival’s Global Port & Destination Development Group

Carnival Corp. & plc’s Global Port & Destination Development Group has three new team members, including two from Caribbean destinations where it does business.

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

January 7, 2020

3 Min Read
Credit: Seatrade Cruise News

This week Bertrand Piller started as port & destination development manager. In October, Sharon Mei became general manager of Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic. Earlier, Alex Gumbs joined as director of port development & operations at Carnival Grand Bahama Investment Ltd., a Carnival Corp. subsidiary.

‘We are thrilled to add these three individuals to our team, which represents a very broad and diverse set of backgrounds, to help the company as we look into the future on a very exciting path of port developments and continued excellence in operations,’ said David Candib, VP development & operations, Global Port & Destination Development Group.

Bertrand Piller

Piller came from Carnival’s Risk Advisory & Assurance Services Group in Miami, where he spent more than 12 years. As an audit manager, he performed a variety of financial and operational reviews including port operations and casino. 

Before joining Carnival, Piller chalked up six years in public accounting jobs, including at BDO in Miami, EY in San Francisco and PwC in Geneva, Switzerland.

He graduated from the School of Management (Haute Ecole de Gestion) in Fribourg, Switzerland, and is a certified public accountant.

Sharon Mei

Mei, who took on the management of Amber Cove, reports to Jesús Mendez, director, regional port operations for Carnival Corp., based in Cozumel.

‘We know Sharon from her role at Sans Souci Ports,’ Candib said, where she spent a dozen years as commercial director for the Port of Santo Domingo. ‘She’s extremely well qualified. She has great experience in the cruise industry, coupled with her educational background and work in logistics from the airport side,’ he added.

A native of Marseille, France, Mei moved to the Dominican Republic 20 years ago. Before Sans Souci Ports, she was commercial corporate manager for Aerodom, an operator of six airports.

She holds an associate’s degree in international transportation and logistics from the Institut International des Transports et des Ports in Marseille, a bachelor’s degree in diplomacy and international services from the Universidad Católica Santo Domingo and an executive master’s degree in business administration from the Barna Business School.

Alex Gumbs

Based in Freeport, Bahamas, Gumbs is assisting with the development and operations at Grand Turk Cruise Center and working on the new Grand Bahama port development for Carnival Cruise Line, for which Candib is the project manager.

‘He has a very good understanding of the Bahamas and its government agencies and will be helping us from the operational side,’ Candib said.

Carnival knew Gumbs during his eight years at Port St. Maarten Group of Companies, where he most recently served as business development & marketing manager. ‘He took a leading role with the industry and cruise line partnership. He really was a shining star,’ Candib said. ‘It’s a natural evolution for him to take a role in the cruise industry. He had an early affinity for it.’

Gumbs holds a bachelor of commerce degree in marketing and sales from Hazehogeschool Groningen in the Netherlands and a master of science degree in management and leadership with a concentration on project management from Purdue University Global.

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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