ROYAL Caribbean Cruises (RCL) has revealed that Gavin Smith will return to his former role of MD Australia and NZ effective immediately, replacing Susan Bonner who departs after holding the position since Jun 2018 (CW breaking news y’day). Smith first served in the Australian-based role from 2008 to 2013, before...
ROYAL Caribbean Cruises (RCL) has revealed that Gavin Smith will return to his former role of MD Australia and NZ effective immediately, replacing Susan Bonner who departs after holding the position since Jun 2018 (CW breaking news y’day).
Smith first served in the Australian-based role from 2008 to 2013, before moving on to become Senior Vice President of International for Royal Caribbean Cruises, where he looked after the markets of Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
In his new position, Smith will be tasked with delivering further growth for Royal Caribbean Int’l (RCI), Celebrity and Azamara.
“No one is more passionate about the Australia and New Zealand markets than Gavin, and we are excited to welcome him back to his home market after a successful term leading our international team,” RCI CEO Michael Bayley said.
Smith’s return to Australia sees Bonner move back to Miami to lead a “new strategic project” for the Celebrity Cruises brand.
During her short stint in Australia, Bonner championed the cause of improving Australia’s cruise capacity, and was also an advocate for better preparing the local market for an influx of large-scale ships, referring to the issue as “the big ship challenge” (CW 13 Sep 2018).
“I want to thank Susan for her contributions to the ANZ region and we look forward to welcoming her back to our Miami campus,” Bayley said.
Pictured: Gavin Smith.
