TUI expands sales team for Marella and TUI River Cruises

Steven Heath takes the role of senior cruise commercial support manager from November 28 assisted by commercial managers Jessica Garner and Lynsey Roberts who take on their respective roles October 31. Sarah Whitehouse will hold the position of training delivery manager.

The new team will report into Andrew Isherwood, national account manager – commercial relations, alongside his existing commercial team.

Ambitious plans for Marella and TUI River Cruises

Remarked Chris Hackney, MD of cruise at TUI UK & Ireland, ‘We’re excited to be growing the team at this pivotal time for the cruise industry. Since the re-start of cruise last year, we’ve been working hard to reassure customers and get them back to cruising.’

He continued, ‘We have ambitious plans for Marella and TUI River Cruises and having a dedicated team in place to support agents will play an important role in the businesses’ future.'

Booking trends

He went on to add that ‘With the launch of Marella Voyager and our new US itineraries on Marella Discovery in 2023, we are seeing trends of customers booking earlier than before.’ 

Steven Heath

Heath’s key responsibilities will include helping in the delivery of commercial aims for Marella and TUI River Cruises, building relationships and providing strategic direction to trade partners.

He was formerly a travel advisor and retail operations executive at TUI before moving into the commercial team, where he has held positions as commercial manager for cruise and most recently, account manager for the UK & Nordics region for the Tourist Boards Partnerships team.

Jessica Garner and Lynsey Roberts

Garner and Roberts will be preparing travel agent partners with the tools they need to support customers and help to generate bookings.

Garner began her career at TUI as deputy retail manager, before working across different teams including content marketing, social media, and tourism board teams. Roberts has 25 years of industry experience, and at TUI, has held a variety of roles from cabin crew, retail management, operations and most recently within business systems and training.

Sarah Whitehouse

Whitehouse has worked as a store manager within the retail arm of the business, and more recently, as a training consultant. She will also help to ensure agents understand the brands, the breadth of products and services available, and equip them with the tools they need to best support their front-line teams and customers.