CLIA Names Charles Sylvia Vice President Trade Relations

charles sylviaCruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has announced that Charles Sylvia will be joining the organization as vice president of trade relations, effective March 2.

Sylvia will work directly with travel agencies and agents, focused on CLIA member engagement and retention. He will be the primary liaison to CLIA’s Diamond and Gold Premium travel agency members, which is comprised of the largest travel agencies, hosts and consortia, and the sales and trade relations executives at CLIA member cruise lines. Additionally, Sylvia will drive the enhancement of the agent professional development and certification programs. He will report directly to Cindy D’Aoust, executive vice president, membership and operations.

Dwain Wall, CLIA's previous senior vice president, travel agency and trade relations, left the organization in early November of last year. Wall is currently co-president and COO of WorldCruise.cn, a bilingual website that caters to Chinese-speaking travel agents and consumers globally.

Sylvia has more than 20 years of experience in cruise marketing and sales, including the role of a travel agent. Most recently, Sylvia held a leadership role in client services at Access TCA, a global exhibit, meetings and events agency headquartered in Boston. At Access TCA, he built and managed their corporate events at sea portfolio, and led a team of meeting planners in producing custom meetings, incentives, conferences and events aboard cruise ships for Access TCA’s corporate clients.

"Charlie’s primary focus will be to act as a liaison and ensure all travel agents maximize their CLIA membership, and his first 90 days will be focused on meeting and engaging with our key travel agency and agent partners," said D’Aoust. 

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