A&K building Crystal team

A&K Travel Group, the company which acquired the two former Crystal Cruises oceangoing vessels as well as its website & brand assets, has announced a swathe of executive appointments, with Chief Executive Officer Cristina Levis saying “we have been hard at work sourcing some of the industry’s finest talent to bring the iconic brand back to life”.

The appointments include several former Silversea Cruises executives, who are returning to the business part-owned by Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio who sold his remaining stake in Silversea to Royal Caribbean Group in mid-2020.

Hires include Fernando Barroso de Oliveira (pictured), Silversea Cruises’ President’s Ambassador to the Venetian Society, whose return to work for d’Ovidio had already been flagged.

He will work to “raise awareness of the Crystal, Abercrombie & Kent and Cox & Kings brands around the world”.

A regular contributor to the Silversea blog, de Oliveira was until late last month described on the cruise line’s website as “practically an iconic presence onboard”, having been with the brand for more than 25 years as a mainstay of numerous voyages, such as its world cruises.

Fernando Delgado Vintimilla will take on the newly created A&K role of Chief Product Officer, moving to the company from previous roles with Silversea overseeing its Galapagos operations and hotel operations within the expedition fleet.

Kerry Golds has been promoted to Chief Tour Operating Officer for the A&K Travel Group, while Martin Froggatt, ex Travelopia/ Quark Expeditions, will become the group’s Chief Destination Officer heading riverboats, DMCs and Sanctuary Retreats for A&K.

Andrew Burrett is the company’s new Group CFO and will create and lead all finance functions for Crystal Cruises, while Fabio Agostini joins A&K as Chief Information Officer after 13 years in IT at Silversea.

Kim Berman has been named as A&K’s Chief Legal and People Officer, joining from the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and prior to that having spent almost 14 years as Silversea Group Counsel.

Rouding out the swag of appointments is Camille Drevillon, who has been promoted within A&K to Chief of Staff, after previous roles including leading commercial strategy for Hurtigruten and as Head of Corporate Finance at Silversea.

Levis said the appointments were positioning A&K “to respond to the dramatic postpandemic growth in the luxury travel market”.