SEATTLE — The list of new hires for HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions) includes some familiar names in the Canadian travel industry.
Carla Brake has been named Senior Sales Director for HX. With some two decades of industry experience, Brake was most recently Senior Director of Business Development for the Globus family of brands and Avalon Waterways, as well as Vice President of Sales at Insight Vacations. She can be reached at carla.brake@hurtigruten.com.
HX’s MS Santa Cruz II in the Galapagos Islands
Kent Phillips has also joined HX, as Business Development Manager, Western Canada. He takes on the role with over seven years of experience as a Senior BDM at Exodus Adventure Travels, specializing in active adventure travel and polar expeditions. He can be reached at kent.phillips@hurtigruten.com.
HX has also added Ian Kivell as Business Development Manager, Eastern Canada. He previously served as a travel manager at Flight Centre and a Sales & Business Development Manager at Contiki Holidays. Based in Hamilton, he is also a Professor of Tourism at Mohawk College. Kivell can be reached at ian.kivell@hurtigruten.com.
Another new hire, Jennifer Kennedy, Business Development Manager, Southeast U.S., brings more than fifteen years of experience with her to HX, including roles at The Travel Corporation, Insight Vacations & Luxury Gold, and Contiki.
“I am excited to announce the expansion of our team, a significant step in our commitment to building and nurturing long-lasting partnerships with the travel trade. Ian, Carla, Kent and Jennifer will play an integral role in equipping our valued agents and advisors with the support they need to thrive in the growing expedition cruise industry and promote HX,” says Sheralyn Berry, General Manager for HX in the Americas. Berry, another familiar name thanks to her roles at Contiki Holidays, G Adventures and more, joined HX in September 2023.
The new hires come as part of HX’s ongoing effort to expand its presence in this key growth market and forge stronger relationships with the travel trade, ensuring partners have all the support they need as HX enters the next phase of its rebrand.
In other HX news, Alex Delamere-White will transition from the role of interim Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) to permanent CCO.
