Michelle Daniels has been appointed to lead the cruise division of river specialist Light Blue Travel, which represents American Queen Steamboat Company, Victory Cruise Lines and nicko cruises in the UK.
Daniels has been named commercial director UK and Europe at the Cambridge-based company, tasked with developing and implementing new strategies to grow sales and integrate more river cruise lines.
She joins Light Blue from Tripsmiths, where she was global head of sales, having previously held a number of roles within the cruise sector.
Daniels started her career at the Passenger Shipping Association before positions with Island Cruises, Cruise & Maritime Voyages and Voyages to Antiquity, where she rose to become head of commercial global before the line’s ceased operations in September 2019.
She will report to Light Blue managing director Rupert Thomson, who said Daniels had joined the team “at a pivotal, post pandemic time”, adding how he believed she would bring “considerable commercial cruise experience” to the role.
Daniels said she was “looking forward to working with many trade partners, old and new” and “thrilled to be working with some new, unique and fascinating specialist cruise line brands”.