Celestyal appoints Lee Haslett as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), effective February 20, 2023. Haslett succeeds Leslie Peden, who has worked at the company for more than five years, initially as Vice President of North America and later as the company's CCO.
Haslett is an experienced travel executive with extensive experience in tour operations and airlines. He joins Celestyal from Virgin, where he was part of the Virgin Holidays team since 2008, leading retail expansion before holding various positions within the company, including head of retail and vice president of product and distribution. Most recently, Lee served as vice president of global sales at Virgin Atlantic, where he led the sales transformation plan, focusing on key markets in North America and Europe, and played a key role on the company's commercial leadership team. Haslett will report to Chris Theophilides, CEO of Celestyal, and will be based in the UK, splitting his time between the US, key European markets, and Greece.
“As Celestyal works to strengthen our brand proposition of immersive, destination-rich travel experiences, we continue to complete our commercial team to meet new challenges,” said Chris Theophilides. “I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to Leslie for her significant contributions in positioning Celestyal for future success. She has been an essential part of the company’s leadership team, and we wholeheartedly wish her all the best in her new endeavors.”
“I am delighted to announce Lee’s appointment and welcome him to Celestyal. Lee joins Celestyal at an exciting time, as we intensify our efforts and invest in substantially expanding Celestyal’s presence in key markets. Shortly after Celestyal significantly expanded its sales team, Lee will oversee a team of more than 60 professionals covering the full range of the company’s business activities, including sales, strategic business development, marketing, public relations, contact center, and revenue management. We look forward to making more announcements of interest in the near future as we continue our mission to strengthen Celestyal’s position as the leading provider of the award-winning multi-destination holiday experiences in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean for which the company is known,” added Theophilides.
