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Scenic strengthens its Asia Pacific leadership as Ana Sofia Ayala and Angus Crichton take on key roles ahead of a major fleet expansion.

Scenic Group has a new face at the helm of its Asia Pacific business. Ana Sofia Ayala will take over as managing director on 18 January 2027. The move comes as the cruise and tour group adds new ships and marks 40 years in business.

Big plans need more than steel and sea views. They need full ships, sound prices and strong ties with the agents who sell them. That gives Ayala a job with plenty at stake.

A new hand on the tiller

Ayala has worked in travel for more than 20 years. For the past seven, she has been chief revenue and marketing officer at Voyages Tourism Australia. Her role there spanned sales, brand work, trade links, bookings, guest care and the bottom line.

Scenic Group says she brought those teams under one plan. She also helped roll out new booking tools and the Just WOW brand. Before that, she was global director of eCommerce at Royal Caribbean in Miami. There, she worked to lift sales before guests boarded and make the path from first search to final booking less of a maze.

That is useful know-how for a cruise line with more cabins to fill. Travel advisers still play a key role in luxury trips. Yet guests now expect an easy path to book, pay, seek help and plan each part of a journey. A grand ship can lose its shine long before anyone sees the gangway.

Scenic Group chief commercial officer Adam Armstrong said Ayala knew both guests and trade partners. He added: “As we enter our next phase of growth, her ability to connect brand, distribution, digital and customer experience will be invaluable.”

Ayala said she was proud to join an Australian success story. She also made clear that agents would be part of her plans. “With new ships and destinations on the way, this is a pivotal moment for Scenic in Asia Pacific,” she said.

Angus Crichton

The team behind the move

Ayala will lead a team already in place. It includes Jarrod Pask, who looks after guest care and office work; Katherine O’Neill, who leads marketing; Emma Davie, who leads trade sales in Australia and New Zealand; Robert Kalemba, who works with agents and sales in Australia; and Dominic Tan, who leads sales and marketing across the wider region.

Scenic has made a second move at the top. Angus Crichton, a veteran of more than 26 years with the group, has been named global head of product. He is now based in Zug, Switzerland, and will lead teams that shape the trips guests buy.

His aim is to bring the people who plan the journeys closer to those who sell them. “Bringing product development and our commercial teams closer together will help us deliver exceptional journeys for our guests and give our travel partners compelling experiences to sell,” Crichton said.

The two moves follow Armstrong’s start as chief commercial officer on 1 November 2026. The new line-up puts sales, guest needs and trip design on the same page. At least, that is the plan. The real test comes when demand shifts or a ship has berths left to sell.

A fleet that must earn its keep

Scenic has laid out a busy few years. Its plans include Emerald Lumi on France’s Seine in 2027 and new river trips in India from that year. More Scenic ships are due on the Mekong in 2028. Scenic Ikon, a new discovery yacht, is set to make its debut in April 2028.

For travel advisers, that could mean more choice and more clients to call. It also means more routes to learn, more dates to track and more questions to answer. Good trade support will count for as much as a glossy ship brochure.

The group has no lack of ambition. Ayala and Crichton now have to help turn that ambition into sales, without losing the care that brings guests back.

A fine new ship will turn heads. Someone still has to fill it.