Royal Caribbean International has announced two executive promotions within the cruise line’s Sales, Trade Support and Services Department. Ken Muskat was named vice president to oversee the growth of the line’s consumer outreach efforts, and Joanne Schimelman was appointed vice president of sales and national accounts.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group appointed Paul Jackson as general manager of Mandarin Oriental, Sanya, effective immediately. Jackson began his career with Mandarin Oriental in 2006 as executive assistant manager, food and beverage, at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

North American cruise lines, their employees and passengers generated $35.1 billion in gross output in the U.S. last year, a 12 percent decrease from the year before, according to an annual report prepared for CLIA by Business Research & Economic Advisors.

North American cruise lines, their employees and passengers generated $35.1 billion in gross output in the U.S. last year, including 313,998 jobs paying a total of $14.23 billion in wages and salaries, and direct cruise industry spending totaled $17.15 billion.

Wyndham Hotel Group named long-time Wyndham executive Dan Kornick as senior vice president and chief information officer. Kornick is tasked with overseeing Wyndham Hotel Group’s IT organization and providing the leadership and vision for the company to deliver against its technology objectives.

Europe is the next subject in the Cheapflights.com series of Rising Stars Reports. The 2010 Europe’s Rising Stars Report ranks the 100 most frequently searched destinations in Europe at Cheapflights.com, according to their change in popularity over 2009. Eastern Europe destinations jumped in popularity with travelers using Cheapflights.com. U.S. travelers seem to be branching out to explore new places in Europe, especially ones where the U.S. dollar goes further. In fact, the relative strength of the euro and British pound have dulled the American zest for London, Paris and Amsterdam, landing them all on the falling stars end of the list.