CLIA UK & Ireland appoints Princess Cruises’ Tony Roberts as chair

He succeeds Stuart Leven, vp EMEA and md of RCL Cruises Ltd., who has served as chair for the past 18 months.

Roberts, who will serve as CLIA UK & Ireland chair until May 31 2020, commented: 'I am delighted to take this opportunity at such an exciting and dynamic time for the global cruise industry.

'Thanks to the incredible diversity of ship, itinerary and experience offered by today’s cruise lines, there’s never been a better time to be in this industry, and I’m looking forward to working closely with the CLIA team, travel agents and cruise lines.

16 years experience with Carnival UK

'Roberts has worked for Princess Cruises for the past three years. Before this, he worked for Princess’ sister brands within Carnival UK for 16 years in a variety of roles covering customer services, sales, finance and IT.

As Princess Cruises’ vp UK and Europe, Roberts leads a team of more than 80. He is responsible for the sales, marketing, PR and commercial functions, as well as guest relations, for the UK and European Princess offices.

Since joining Princess, Roberts has overseen a number of large-scale projects and initiatives including ITV’s documentary The Cruise, and introducing unprecedented UK capacity for Princess Cruises.

Andy Harmer, CLIA’s UK and Ireland director and svp said: 'We are thrilled that Tony is taking on the important role of UK and Ireland CLIA chair, and look forward to working with him closely over the next two years.

'I’d like to thank Stuart for his tenure as chair, which he has undertaken with great energy and enthusiasm.'