| Silversea to reposition in Europe

Silversea’s new Germany
office will be based on the
Australian model as the line
seeks to reshape
internationally.
STEVE ODELL HAS BIG PLANS FOR HIS NEW ROLE OF
marketing the Silversea brand in Europe – a
position that lay vacant for the past year.
Speaking to CW after this week’s
announcement of the company’s global
management restructure, he said his move
from the Sydney office back to London would
be “familiar territory but in a very different
environment” to his sales stint in 1998-2003.
With his promotion to svp of sales and
marketing for UK, Europe and Asia Pacific,
Odell will now oversee all of Silversea’s non-
Americas markets, and he said his main
missions were to set up an office in Frankfurt
and to reposition the brand in the luxury
arena.
“The German market will be bigger than
the UK market in three years, based on
projections, so my first task is to open the
Frankfurt office, basing it on the same
approach as the Sydney office.
“I think the Australian model could work
well in Germany, by starting small but very
sales-focused and working closely with the
trade.”
Odell said his other priority would be
chasing the European big spenders.
“We have been very trade-focused but now
we need to be broader than that, to be
strategically marketing the Silversea brand in
the right places, in the right magazines, in
the luxury arena.”
Odell replaces Trudy Redfern, who leaves
Silversea today after more than seven years
with the company.
Meanwhile, in Sydney, Karen Christensen
has been promoted to director of sales and
marketing and general manager for Australia
and New Zealand.
Christensen said her new role would be
“more corporate and continuing to oversee
our growth” in Australia and New Zealand.
“We haven’t put on any extra tonnage this
year, since Silver Spirit, so we are just
focusing on supporting the trade and
growing the business as much as we can,”
she said.
Odell, who starts his new role on 15 Jul,
said Australia remained a key part of
Silversea’s business.
“Initially, Australia will need less of my
attention because it is very established here,
and we have always had a succession plan.
“Karen has been groomed for this role and
we will still work closely together,” he said.