Casino cruise ship operator and Philippine casino investor Genting Hong Kong Ltd announced the appointment of Tom Wolber (pictured) as president and chief executive of Crystal Cruises, effective September 15, according to a press release issued on that date.
Mr Wolber has previously served in various executive roles at Walt Disney Co for 28 years, 10 of which were with Disney Cruise Line where he served as senior vice president of operations. He is replacing Edie Rodriguez as Crystal Cruises CEO, who left on Friday after almost four years with the company.
“Since acquiring Crystal in 2015, Genting has worked tirelessly to expand the Crystal brand by launching two river vessels with a third imminent, an expedition yacht and a private Boeing 777 – certainly no easy feat,” said Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Genting Hong Kong and Crystal Cruises, in a statement included in Friday’s press release.
He added: “Tom’s proven leadership skills will be invaluable to Crystal as the line takes delivery of four river ships in 2017 and 2018 as well as the first of the ‘Endeavor Class’ expedition yachts in 2019.”
Genting Hong Kong – a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd – has been accelerating expansion plans for its cruise business and has developed a three-brand portfolio of cruise lines serving different parts of the market: Crystal Cruises for what it terms the ultra-luxury segment; Dream Cruises for what it describes as the premium segment; and Star Cruises for what it defines as the “contemporary” segment.
