Profile:
David Selby has been in
the cruise industry for 23 years. For 10 years he was managing director of TUI owned
Thomson Cruises (now known as Marella Cruises). During his tenure, Thomson
Cruises grew four-fold to carry over ¼million guests annually. With the
acquisition of four ships during that time, it was transformed from a
varied assortment of 3rd party charters to a fully branded and controlled fleet of
ships, profitably operating to over 120 ports around Europe, The
Caribbean and the Red Sea.
In 2011, David left to form his
consultancy, Travelyields Limited, which remains successful today. His clients
have included cruise lines, ports and destinations, city investors, port
associations, and other suppliers to the industry – particularly new players. Some
clients have been with him for many years.
He has also developed and delivered
packages for and with CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association – the
industry global trade body), at its Executive Partner summits. His
consultancy work has taken him as far as China, Panama, the US and Canada,
Russia and throughout Europe.
His particular expertise is in
- Ship
deployment and itinerary planning, which he sees as vital for ports and destinations to understand
to increase business
- Future
passenger volume forecasting, vital to support business cases and investment appraisal
- Bespoke
research and reporting
- PR,
sales and marketing for ports and destinations
- Aviation
and outbound tour operating, having planned and pricedhotel holiday programmes for several
years before his time in the cruise industry
- European
river cruise
He is also in great demand as a
moderator and speaker at industry events. He has now moderated and spoken at 35
international events in his consultancy capacity. As a result he is extremely
well connected to people in the commercial and (port) operational
side of the industry
