Effective today, Ruben Perez has assumed his new position as general manager at Costa Cruises North America's Hollywood, Fla., office, responsible for day-to-day management of all operations, reporting directly to Costa Crociere headquarters in Genoa, Italy. Scott Knutson was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing, and is responsible for marketing, sales and travel agent relations, reporting to Perez.
The new management structure comes in the wake of the retirement of Maurice Zarmati as president and CEO of the North American office. Zarmati has been retained as a consultant to Costa Cruises for its worldwide sales, marketing and passenger-traffic initiatives.
"The cruise industry is constantly changing, but we intend to maintain continuity and the same high level of service our travel partners have come to expect of Costa Cruises North America under Maurice's leadership," said Perez. "We are committed to ensuring that it is a pleasure to work with our office for all our travel agent partners and national accounts."
"Relationships are an integral part of any successful sales organization and clearly were important to Maurice, which I learned working with him for 23 years, said Knutson. While we'll all miss his guidance, I am excited for the opportunity to lead our new sales and marketing initiatives in North America during this era of growth at Costa."
Perez has worked for Costa Cruises N.A. for 28 years, starting in the accounting department while studying for his bachelor's of science degree in professional administration at Barry University in Miami. He held several managerial positions in the credit and collection and revenue management departments before becoming senior vice president of guest services in 2008. In that role he was responsible for the accounting, guest services, groups, special services, air/sea and guest relations departments. As general manager Perez' responsibilities also include oversight of all sales and marketing functions.
Knutson is a 26-year veteran of the travel industry, with 23 years in the cruise industry. He spent two decades in the sales organization at Carnival Cruise Lines, starting as business development manager and rising to regional vice president of sales for the central and then southeast regions of the U.S. In 2008 Knutson was named vice president of sales for Costa Cruises N.A. As the new vice president of sales and marketing, he is responsible for all aspects of travel agency sales and distribution, including field sales, strategic alliances, sales operations, tour operators and incentive and inside sales.