Celestyal Cruises has announced the appointment of Lee Haslett as global chief commercial officer.

Haslett, who will officially join the line on 20 February and report to CEO Chris Theophilides, takes over from Leslie Peden, who has been with the company for more than five years.

Haslett is a highly experienced travel executive, having had a wide range of experience with tour operations and airlines.

He joins Celestyal following a long stint at Virgin, first joining the Virgin Holidays team in 2008 and leading the holidays retail expansion before other various roles including head of retail and vice-president, product and distribution.

Most recently, Haslett was vice-president global sales for Virgin Atlantic, where he led the sales transformation plan.

Celestyal Cruises to build ‘presence’ in key markets

Theophilides said: “As we pivot Celestyal to reinforce our brand proposition of destination-rich, immersive travel experiences, we continue to develop our commercial team to meet new challenges.

“I’m delighted to announce Lee’s appointment and welcome him to Celestyal. Lee joins Celestyal at an exciting time, as we intensify our efforts and invest in substantially broadening Celestyal’s presence in key markets.

“Fresh on the heels of Celestyal significantly growing our trade facing commercial team, Lee will oversee a global team of over 60 travel professionals covering the whole spectrum of Celestyal’s commercial activities.

“I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to Leslie for his significant contributions to position Celestyal for future success.

“He has been an integral part of the company’s senior leadership and we wholeheartedly wish him all the best in his new endeavours.”