Silversea Confirms Management Changes, Hires CIO

Silversea Cruises confirmed the hiring of Kenneth W. Watson as executive vice president and chief operating officer following the abrupt departure of top sales executives David Morris and Marilyn Conroy. Silversea also announced the appointment of Fabio Agostini as vice president and chief information officer.

Reporting to Perasso, Watson will be based in the company’s Fort Lauderdale office. In his new role, he oversees worldwide sales and marketing activities as well as leads the departments of revenue management and performance, reservations, air/sea and guest relations.

Watson just completed a six-year assignment with Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Carlson Companies, operating in the cruise, travel and hotel businesses as executive vice president, with a mandate to increase international sales.

Prior to that, he served as president and CEO for companies such as Little Switzerland, Cartier Inc. and Gumps Inc. Tom Russell previously held the COO title at Silversea, but he left the company several months ago.

Agostini will direct the development of information technology. He will report to Alvarino Biasotti, the company’s worldwide financial controller based in Monaco, and travel extensively between the Monaco and Fort Lauderdale offices.

Agostini has 25 years’ experience in IT operations. Most recently, he led the CRM and business intelligence units, developing large projects for companies such as Costa Crociere, L’Oreal, AstraZeneca and Vodafone.

These changes follow the sudden departures of Morris, executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing; Marilyn Conroy, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Americas; and Tim Rand, vice president and CIO.