After a twenty year career with Celebrity Cruises, Dondra Ritzenthaler, the Senior Vice President of Sales for the Americas, will retire in May.
"The time is simply right for me to start the next phase of my life and recharge my batteries," she said in an emailed letter to travel partners.
Ritzenthaler joined Celebrity in 2003 as the vice president of sales. She came from American Airlines, where she worked for 20 years in sales and marketing management.
Ritzenthaler was recently on TravelBrands' SeaU Cruise on board Celebrity Beyond which was hosts to close to 250 travel professionals from across Canada.
"The time is simply right for me to start the next phase of my life and recharge my batteries," she said in an emailed letter to travel partners.
Her retirement comes as the brand president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo prepares to step down at Celebrity Cruises. Lutoff-Perlo will transition to a position at the line's parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, as vice chair of external affairs.
Laura Hodges Bethge will take over as president of Celebrity Cruises on May 1.
Hodges Bethge comes to Celebrity after serving as Royal Caribbean Group's executive vice president of shared services operations. In her email, Ritzenthaler said that she expected the brand would reach "exciting new heights" under Hodges Bethge's leadership.
Ritzenthaler said that the sales and services team would report directly to Hodges Bethge for an interim period.
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