ATHENS — Celestyal has appointed Jon Grutzner as its new vice president, business development for North America.

Based in Wisconsin, Grutzner will help execute the cruise line’s North American strategic plan, working alongside Leslie Peden, chief commercial officer, and the entire Celestyal executive team to develop new distribution channels. He will also be responsible for growing, leading and mentoring the company’s business development team across the U.S. and Canada.

Prior to his new role, Grutzner, who boasts 20 years of senior-level experience in travel and tourism, tour operations, destination cruise and customer relationship management, consulted for Premier World Discovery in Madison, Wisconsin, where he was responsible for group sales and overseeing the travel advisor distribution channel. He also previously served as president at New York-based Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold, as well as director of sales at Azamara.

Grutzner’s appointment is also accompanied by the news that Michelle Suker has been announced as Celestyal’s new business development manager – southeastern, U.S. Based in Florida, she previously served as a remote sales consultant for Viking as well as director of field sales, eastern region for Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold.

“We are honoured to have such highly experienced business development and destination tour experts as Jon and Michelle join our growing team in North America,” said Peden. “Both have longstanding and proven track records in cruising and tour operations as well as close ties with the travel advisor community. Jon and Michelle join our expanded business development team at an exciting time in Celestyal’s brand evolution and will play a key role in broadening and deepening our footprint in North America.”