Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. announced it has appointed Gina Gabbard to serve as chief sales officer. In this newly created position, Gabbard will oversee and direct the company’s strategic sales growth with a focus on the retail travel sector and group sales.
Gabbard brings to Lindblad 25 years of experience in leadership roles within several premier travel companies. Most recently, she served as senior vice president of Ovation Travel Group, a travel management and luxury leisure company, where she oversaw the strategic and day-to-day operations of the Leisure & Independent Advisors division. Prior to that, Gabbard was vice president of leisure for the Tzell Travel Group, where she managed the agency’s leisure and marketing programs, assisted in maximizing key leisure relationships, and developed and nurtured leisure supplier partnerships and programs.
Gabbard possesses an in-depth knowledge of both sides of the travel industry: Before joining the agency side, she held various sales positions with MLT Vacations, as well as with some of the country’s leading hotel companies, including Adam’s Mark, Marriott Hotels and Promus Hotel Corporation. She has also served on several luxury travel advisory boards, including Accor, Abercrombie & Kent and Belmond.
She join’s Lindblad’s senior sales team of Jacinta McEvoy, vice president of global sales; Lesa Bain, vice president of sales, North America; and Karen Kuttner-Dimitry, vice president of affinity and charter sales, who have played an integral role in the growth of Lindblad Expeditions.
“Gina’s broad expertise with diverse suppliers of upscale travel will be instrumental in further driving our sales initiatives as we navigate a more and more competitive world,” said Sven Lindblad, CEO of Lindblad Expeditions, in a press announcement. “Her addition builds on our established commitment to the travel advisor community, whose role we believe will be more important than ever in a post-COVID travel landscape.”
Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. is an expedition travel company that focuses on ship-based voyages through its Lindblad Expeditions brand and on land-based travel through its subsidiary, Natural Habitat Adventures, an adventure travel and ecotourism company with a focus on responsible nature travel. Lindblad Expeditions works in partnership with National Geographic to inspire people to explore and care about the planet. The organizations work in tandem to produce marine expedition programs and to promote conservation and sustainable tourism around the world.
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