The changes come as a result of Azamara’s plans to increase in-market presence and sales function around the world.

With global growth a top priority, Azamara has doubled the number of shoreside employees in markets such as the US, the Nordics, Germany, and Australia.

Carol Cabezas, president of Azamara, said: "We recognise the integral role that ‘on the ground’ sales teams have on market performance and the value of their relationships with local trade partners.

"By introducing new team structures with targeted focuses, such as that in the UK, and with a surge of new hires around the world, we are offering more support to trade partners globally and driving forward our international growth."

Duff, formerly Azamara’s international commercial director, will take on the role of UK managing director. In this new position, he will focus his efforts on developing the UK market, driving growth, and providing visible market leadership.

He will manage the UK team across all departments and work with the global teams based in Miami, which provide operational, day-to-day support to all international markets.

"This is a really exciting moment for Azamara in the UK," he said. "The UK proves to be a leading market for us year-on-year, and now with a reinforced sales team, we can expand our reach even further, visit more travel partners and distribute products across more channels.

"We just had our best year on record in the UK, and with demand for cruising still strong, we are confident that these changes will set the foundations for further success in 2023 and beyond."

Additional appointments include Lee Surman who will step into a new role as head of partnerships and trading, taking over the commercial support to all markets, building new strategic partnerships and handling the day-to-day commercial needs of the international team.

In a new position as head of trade sales UK, Stuart Pearce will oversee the UK sales strategy, responsible for driving sales and responding to the needs of the market.

Nikki Singleton will take on a greater focus on the strategic accounts nationally and Lori Scannella returns to deliver UK and EMEA support in her role as sales support manager. 

For EMEA, Christina Hannon’s role has expanded to strategic accounts manager for the Nordic and DACH countries where Azamara is establishing relationships for the first time.

Bruno Jansen will take up a new role as sales manager for the EMEA IR network and Richard Stanbridge will assume a new role as trade and guests services manager international, based in London, to support the brand’s trade partners and guests.