The move comes as Unforgettable Travel Company seeks to diversify its offering so that clients can cruise all year round with the company, tapping into its team of 25 destination specialists and product managers to offer bespoke packages.

“We’ve seen incredible growth in our Croatia cruise business, from launching in 2016 to now operating our own fleet of five ships, and we now see cruise playing a big part of our expansion,” said Graham Carter, co-founder and chief commercial officer of Unforgettable Travel Company.

“We see a lot of clients asking ‘where next’, wanting to continue their newly-found enjoyment of small-ship cruising, so building a key range of product to include yacht-style ocean, river and expedition cruises in wonderful global destinations will allow them to sail more than once in a year with us,” he added.

The company also hopes high-profile appointments such as Leeming’s will help in its ambition to become one of the world’s leading luxury travel companies. 

Leeming joins the business with nearly 20 years’ travel experience, including roles with Abta Magazine and Superbreak, as well as eight years at Cosmos, where he was responsible for creating ocean and river cruise products. During his five years at Tripsmiths, he built tours and cruises with experts and celebrities such as James Martin and Ian Botham.

Part of Leeming’s role will be to contact cruise lines, “especially ones that operate ships under 500 passengers”, about potential partnerships, with Carter adding the business had been inspired by the approach of Australian-owned APT, which operates group and full charter partnerships with ocean and river cruise lines. 

“We plan to provide clients with a choice of destinations and experiences, all with the small ship cruising ethos and excellence they have experienced with us in Croatia or Greece,” Carter said.

Under this “cruise 365 expansion plan”, the intention is to open up a wider range of global destinations to clients, which “will likely include exciting small ship destinations, European rivers, French and Italian Rivieras and the Far East”. 

“Seeing the ambition for growth and excellence at Unforgettable Travel Company is inspiring,” Leeming said. “There is such an appetite at the moment for small ship cruising and now is an opportune time to capture this and build out our exciting new cruise product. I’ll be aiming to enhance our current small-ship cruising range by using my extensive relationships in the industry to develop once-in-a-lifetime packages and unforgettable cruising experiences.”