Celestyal announced plans to continue its growth in North America and has expanded its sales and marketing team with new hires, according to a press release. 

The cruise line recently hired Richard Sandoval, business development manager for the west coast; Stephanie McDonald, business development manager for Canada; and Morgan Hatfield, marketing executive. With the new hires, Celestyal’s business development team now has 12 members, the company said.

“As we continue to expand Celestyal’s visibility in North America, I’m thrilled to expand our team to meet the increasing demand we are experiencing from one of our fastest growing markets,” said Jon Grutzner, vice president-business development for the Americas.  “It’s also key that we have invested in a highly-experienced business development team to support our travel advisor and wholesale business partners who are key to our success in this market.”

Sandoval and McDonald will work on growing Celestyal’s market share in North America while their main responsibilities will be to develop strong relationships with travel agents and group and tour operators. Additionally, they will be working to increase trade awareness and provide training and marketing support. Hatfield will be in charge of creating and implementing B2B and B2C marketing campaigns in the U.S. and Canada. Sandoval and McDonald will report to Grutzner while Hatfield will report to Tim Locke, director of global marketing.

Before joining Celestyal, Sandoval worked with Unique Vacations, Inc. and Sandals and Beaches Resorts.  He also served as a travel advisor for three years. Previously, McDonald spent 15 years working with Royal Caribbean Cruises in Canada and Florida. Hatfield previously worked for the Easton Porter Group, where she was in charge of marketing for hotels, wineries and restaurants across the United States.