Three Big Executive Changes at Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings

steve odell
Steve Odell

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has announced three key appointments to the company’s international leadership team: Steve Odell, previously SVP and managing director for Australia & New Zealand, is now SVP and managing director for Asia Pacific, responsible for overseeing Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, and Asia, including Japan, India, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan; David Herrera, previously with Prestige Cruise Holdings, has been appointed as SVP and managing director China; and Frank Medina, who joins the company as VP and managing director for Latin America, overseeing Mexico, South and Central America and the Caribbean

All three positions will be focused on the continued growth of the company’s presence in the region and differentiating each brand’s unique offerings, NCLH said. The three executives will be responsible for all three of NCLH’s family of brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. All report to Harry Sommer, EVP international business development.

Frank Medina
Frank Medina

Odell has played a key role in the establishment of the luxury cruise segment in Australasia since 2000, previously serving as Silversea’s president EMEA and Asia Pacific. He has also served as chairman ICCA (now CLIA Australasia) between 2005 and 2007 and was a founding board member of the Asia Cruise Association (now CLIA Asia).

Most recently, Herrera co-chaired the task force created by NCL to decide its future deployment strategy in China. Previously, he served as senior advisor to the chairman and CEO of Prestige Cruise Holdings, where he led a group responsible for researching the Chinese cruise market for Oceania Cruises. David began his finance and investment career at Goldman, Sachs and Sanford C. Bernstein, where he advised executives and families on all investment matters and was the founder of a private investment firm focused on dynamic and early stage growth opportunities.

Frank Medina brings more than 20 years of experience in the cruise sector, most recently having served as commercial director for key markets in North America for Celebrity Cruises, overseeing strategic planning and execution of sales and marketing initiatives across the brand’s top markets. He previously led the growth and development of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises as the director of sales and marketing for Latin America and the Caribbean.