Princess Cruises UK and Europe sales director Nick Hughes will join Scenic Group in January 2024 as UK and Ireland sales director.

He will report to Nichola Absalom, who has been promoted to UK managing director, sales and marketing, and be based in Manchester with responsibility for Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours and Emerald Cruises’ sales and partnership team.

“We are delighted that Nick has agreed to join us at such an exciting and important time for our brands,” Absalom said. “We are eyeing significant growth over the next few years, with more exciting plans still to come, following the recent addition of our beautiful new ocean ships, Scenic Eclipse II and Emerald Sakkara, this year.

“He brings significant expertise, industry knowledge and experience to support the ambitious growth we have for our business in 2024 and beyond and I am looking forward to working closely with Nick to achieve this.”

“It is a very exciting time to join the Scenic Group, Nichola and her teams in the UK and Ireland,” Hughes said. “The guest experiences they deliver are truly market-leading and highly desirable. I’m looking forward to working with the team to spearhead our ambitious plans.”

Scenic Group’s agent partners ‘remain central to building business’

Hughes assured the company’s travel agent and tour operator partners “remain central” to building the Scenic and Emerald Cruises businesses.

“The consumer demand is there, our mission is to support our industry partners both existing and new and help them to build their knowledge and confidence so they can help create stories for life for their customers with Scenic and Emerald. This is going to be a real privilege,” he added.

Princes Cruises UK and Europe vice president Eithne Williamson thanked Hughes for the “wealth of knowledge” and experience he brought to the team.

“Whilst he will be missed at Princess, having the opportunity for wider remit with a smaller privately-owned business that is closer to home is one Nick couldn’t turn down.”

Princess will now begin recruitment for the sales director role.