Scenic Group continues to enhance support for its travel advisor partners with the hiring of four trade experts. Industry veteran Manny Celdran has joined Scenic Group as the senior director of field sales and will oversee the company’s regional sales directors; Denise Reichwein Lees brings more than 36 years of experience to her new position as regional sales director Northeast; Garette Ziem brings a diverse career of 25 years in the hospitality industry to his new position as regional sales director Midwest; and Georgia Ridenhour, with 15 years in luxury travel industry sales and marketing, will be the new regional sales director Southwest.
Celdran spent most of his 25-year career with Celebrity Cruises, climbing the ranks from sales associate to senior manager positions in sales. While developing lasting relationships through partnerships and collaborations with travel partners and driving revenue and brand awareness has been a highlight of Celdran’s career, he takes pride in his “people first” work view and his efforts with young performers, helping to develop the next generation of leaders. He is excited to leverage his expertise in account development, brand loyalty, and professional development to shape the future of this niche and apply his experience to this rapidly growing segment of the industry. Celdran will be overseeing Scenic Groups USA’s team of regional sales directors and reporting directly to Elizabeth Fettes, vice president of sales, Scenic Group USA.
Reichwein Lees previously worked for MSC Cruises as a director of sales for the U.S. market and Royal Caribbean International as a business development manager in Eastern Pennsylvania. Her strong performance resulted in consistent triple-digit increases in revenue and passenger count throughout her tenure. Reichwein’s approach to supporting travel partners grew agency penetration by nearly 250 percent while also educating thousands of agents on the brand and its fleet. She will support and grow the Northeast region (CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT).
Ziem began his 25-year career in travel with GOGO Vacations, rising quickly to become business development manager. He held several sales and marketing management positions in several hotel companies before most recently serving as director of sales and marketing with Tru by Hilton Indianapolis. Ziem’s range of experience, from new business development to social media planning to key account management, brings valuable expertise and leadership skills in the Midwest region (IA, IL, IN, KS, MD, MI, MN, NE, OH, WI), making him an ideal resource for travel partners. Ziem will be reporting to Celdran.
Ridenhour previously headed the partnership sales, marketing and publishing division as vice president with Andrew Harper Travel, and together with her team, served more than 700 global partnerships annually, including several ocean, river and expedition cruise and yachting partners. Prior to joining Scenic Group, Ridenhour honed her experience within the yachting industry by serving as the global travel trade business and partnership development director for a yacht charter company. She will drive sales efforts in the Southwest region (TX, OK, AR, LA and NM). Ridenhour will also report to Celdran.
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