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Gwyn Hughes to head easyCruise
Highly experienced former P&O Cruises boss Gwyn Hughes is to head Stelios Haji- Ioannou’s low cost cruise venture easyCruise as CEO.
Hughes, who left P&O in 2003 after 20 years with the company, revealed that talks were taking place with shipyards for new vessels for the easyCruise fleet. The company currently operates a single cruise ship in the Mediterranean in summer and Caribbean in winter. New itineraries from Miami and the Bahamas are being considered for next winter as well as cruises in the Greek and Spanish Mediterranean in future.
He said he also believed there were “exciting opportunities” to work with other companies through franchise arrangements, such as easyCruise’s new river cruise venture from Amsterdam in July.
Stelios said: “His vast industry experience will complement my own attempts at ‘out of the box’ thinking. Now that easyCruise is part its pilot phase and is established as a business, it deserves a full time CEO, a position I was holding on a part-time basis.
“I will remain as chairman but Gwyn’s arrival will help free up some of my time to work on all of the 15 easyGroup businesses.”
Hughes, who was managing director of P&O Cruises and left the organisation as executive vice-president of corporate development, told TravelMole: “There is clearly an attraction working with such a charasmatic individual as Stelios. I said when I left P&O I would not go back into the sector but this is a totally different business model and target market.”
He added: “We are in discussions with shipyards over new builds so would hope to complete negotations for ships to arrive in two to three years time.”
Hughes is to remain as a non-executive director of Bales Worldwide and chairman of communications firm Pinpoint Communications.
Meanwhile, easyCruise has recruited Louise Reece from Windjammer Barefoot Cruises in Miami as senior vice-president for itineraries and shore activities.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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