Celebrity Constellation Is A 'Revolutionized' Ship

A revolutionary ship is coming to Port Tampa Bay, as Celebrity Cruises unveils a brand new homeport, expanding the brand’s global vacation offerings with the redeployment of Celebrity Constellation. The newly “revolutionized” ship will offer guests more island time than ever before, with three unique alternating 10-and 11-night roundtrip sailings for the winter 2020 season.

“Our guests and travel advisors have been asking us to return to Tampa since our last call there in 2007,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. “While ‘Celebrity Cruises’ fleet is undergoing a massive modernization with THE CELEBRITY REVOLUTION, the beautiful City of Tampa is also experiencing quite a renaissance. How fitting for our evolving brand to return to an evolving city with a completely ‘revolutionized’ ship?’”

Recent construction and development in Tampa Bay aim to create a truly dynamic, urban lifestyle for workers, residents and visitors alike. The city’s downtown waterfront is currently being transformed through the $3 billion Water Street project. The 50-acre district will feature retail, offices, homes, hotels, culture, and education. Transformation of Tampa’s urban core was enhanced by the completion of the Tampa Riverwalk, an area now seeing hundreds of millions of dollars in private investments. In addition, historic Ybor’s City’s revitalization further adds to Tampa’s uniqueness as a robust and desirable world-class destination.

“We are very excited to welcome Celebrity Cruises to the Tampa Bay market. In 2020 Celebrity Cruises will offer a variety of itineraries from Tampa that will include stops at exotic locations in southern and eastern Caribbean. The addition of this premium brand to the explosive growth that Tampa Bay is experiencing will add an extraordinary adventure to the many choices vacationers have in Tampa Bay,” said Port Tampa Bay President and CEO Paul Anderson.

Following a leisurely 14-night Transatlantic crossing out of Barcelona, Celebrity Constellation will begin offering guests three unique itineraries, including a 10-night Eastern Caribbean escape, calling San Juan, Puerto Rico; Basseterre, St. Kitts & Nevis; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; and Samana, Dominican Republic; an 11-night Southern Caribbean trek with visits to Key West, Florida; Kralendijk, Bonaire; Oranjestad, Aruba; Willemstad, Curacao; and George Town, Grand Cayman; as well as a brand new 11-night “Touch Canal” itinerary, sailing to Cozumel, Mexico; Puerto Limon, Costa Rica; the Panama Canal; Colon, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; and George Town, Grand Cayman.

Celebrity Constellation is currently scheduled to undergo its “revolutionary” modernization in May 2020 as part of THE CELEBRITY REVOLUTION, Celebrity’s $500 million investment in ship-wide upgrades and breathtaking reimagined spaces, taking the brand’s fleet to the Edge.

For more details on Celebrity Constellation’s redeployment and the exciting new sailings being offered, visit www.celebritycruises.com/ports/tampa. To learn more about the unique offerings exclusive to the Tampa Bay region and the surrounding area, visit www.visittampabay.com or visitwww.visitstpeteclearwater.com.

South African Airways Appoints Fitzpatrick As The New Director of Sales Development For Mid-Atlantic Region

South African Airways (SAA), the national flag carrier of South Africa announces the appointment of Frank Fitzpatrick as Director, Sales Development for the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States, effective August 05, 2019. Frank will be based in the metropolitan Washington D.C. area and will report to Marlene Sanau, Vice President, Sales – North America. As Director of Sales Development, Frank will be responsible for the airline’s business development and passenger sales that are generated through national and regional travel management companies, retail travel agency, travel consortiums, corporate, tour operator and consolidator accounts in the MidAtlantic region. His sales region of responsibility will include The District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

“Frank is a seasoned sales professional whose experience in developing business strategies to generate both leisure and corporate sales will add great value to increasing South African Airways’ position in our gateway city of Washington, DC, as well as throughout the Mid-Atlantic region,” said Marlene Sanau, vice president of sales for South African Airways in North America. “He brings a wealth of experience and leadership in the airline industry to SAA and we are excited to welcome him to our sales organization in North America.”

Prior to joining SAA, Frank was a top sales performer at United Airlines having served in sales management positions on the West Coast where he was responsible for strategic business development and sales planning. He is a graduate of Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication and has a Certificate in Marketing from the University of California.

South African Airways is one of Africa’s most awarded airlines, honored with a 4-star rating for 17 consecutive years by Skytrax. South African Airways offers the most daily flights from the U.S. to South Africa with nonstop service from New York-JFK Airport and direct service from Washington, DC-Dulles Airport to Johannesburg via Accra, Ghana or Dakar, Senegal. Onboard, SAA offers an in-flight experience designed for pure comfort for the long-haul. Customers enjoy a spacious Economy Class cabin, gourmet cuisine and a selection of complimentary spirits and award-winning South African wines and generous checked baggage allowance. Also included are individual audio / visual entertainment systems that deliver an extensive menu of first-run movies, music choices, and games. Via our Johannesburg hub, SAA links the world to over 75 destinations across the African continent and Africa’s Indian Ocean islands.

For more information on South African Airways, please call (800) 722-9675 or visit www.flysaa.com.