Carnival Corporation and plc, the world’s largest travel and leisure company, today announced that Marie McKenzie has been named vice president of global destinations services and sourcing. She will be the first person to fill this new role.
McKenzie will lead a team of brand experts who will assume responsibility for geographical regions on behalf of all nine brands, while also maintaining their reporting lines into the leadership structure of their respective brand. Together, they will coordinate and manage processes and relationships with tour operators and port services officials around the globe to deliver the best possible tour excursion and port experiences for the nearly 11 million guests who sail every year on the company’s 100 ships visiting hundreds of ports across the globe.
“We are excited to have Marie take on this new role, and with her proven track record in her past 19 years at Carnival, we know she will lead this team to great success,” said Alan Buckelew, chief operations officer for Carnival Corporation. “Having had global responsibilities in her previous role and partnering with the global strategy team, we know she will bring to this new role extensive knowledge of our operating companies and a deep understanding of our overall vision to work together across our nine brands to consistently exceed guest expectations.”
McKenzie previously served as vice president of global financial planning and analysis, where she played an integral part in interpreting and engaging all nine brands to prepare the company’s executive team for the quarterly earnings guidance and position the overall strategy and financial direction of the company. She also led the process of capturing, consolidating and analyzing data from the nine brands as well as the corporation’s annual planning process that was key to the execution of the company’s overall long-term strategy.
McKenzie, who started her career with Carnival Corporation in 1996, has held a number of roles with progressive responsibility. This included her time with the Carnival Cruise Line brand where she served in various leadership roles, including vice president of fleet accounting where she led a team of nearly 200 people working closely with the shipboard operations team.
McKenzie started her career with Arthur Andersen LLP in Washington, D.C., in 1992. Originally from Jamaica, West Indies, she is a graduate of Howard University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting. She also attended Florida International University where she earned a master’s degree in international business.
McKenzie serves on the board of directors of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida and Honey Shine Inc.
