Portman Marine Travel appoints new Marine Sales Manager
Portman Marine Travel has appointed Joe Pitcher as its new Sales Manager as part of its ambition to become one of the leading global marine travel management companies.
Joe will be responsible for driving new business at Portman’s specialist marine department, as part of the $500m global marine travel industry.
Joe has worked in the marine industry since 1992, and spent three years at P&O Marine, which was acquired by Portman in 2006 and rebranded as Portman Marine a year later. Most recently he spent two years as sales and marketing manager at International Marine Travel Group.
Commenting on his appointment, Joe said: “Globally the marine travel market is serviced by specialist agents. My aim will be to cement Portman Marine’s place as a key player in this market, widening the choice that ship managers and crew managers have when it comes to their travel arrangements.
“We believe that we can bring marine travel into the 21st century with new ideas and enhancements gained from the business travel expertise built up by Portman, the UK’s largest independent travel management company. I’m looking forward to bringing the benefits of this experience and scale – including greater purchasing power and professional business systems – to new customers.”
Joe will be reporting into David Bishop, Portman’s Head of Customer Acquisition. David said: “Like all businesses at the moment, marine customers are looking to cut costs and maintain their margins, and travel is one of the key areas they are focusing on. With Joe on board as a new marine sales manager, we will be able to go to the market with a clear strategy on how Portman can help them achieve this, as well as demonstrating our capabilities as a trusted adviser to our customers.”
Joe will be based at Portman Marine’s headquarters in Cannon Street, and work closely with the Marine operations team, headed up by Denis Woodard.