Virgin Voyages Names Michelle Bentubo as First Chief Operating Officer

Virgin Voyages announced that Michelle Bentubo has been named the cruise line’s Chief Operating Officer.

Bentubo brings over 30 years of experience to the position after serving the last seven at Virgin in senior-level, business-defining roles. The cruise line said she is one of very few female cruise industry leaders who directly oversee all operations, including marine and technical functions.

Bentubo joined the Virgin Voyages team in 2016 as Vice President of Technology and Operations before leading the company’s customer service, terminal operations and people and culture organizations.

Most recently, as SVP of Service Excellence, Travel Operations, Crew Training and Experience, Bentubo has led all activities, from booking to boarding, for Virgin passengers. 

“I’m thrilled to have Michelle take on this critical role for us at this important time in our growth plans. Having her become our COO is brilliant news for the entire team and our business given how she’s been such an important part of building and creating our brand,” Virgin CEO Nirmal Saverimuttu said.

“Not only am I excited to work with her as she takes our smooth operations functions to the next level, but I couldn’t think of a better leadership mentor for all our crew, especially our future women leaders,” Saverimuttu continued.

Moving into her new role as Chief Operating Officer, Bentubo will oversee every touchpoint of the brand’s end-to-end operations, a critical position as the cruise line expands its offerings to more than 100 ports of call across over 45 global itineraries.

Bentubo also leads Virgin’s Scarlet Squad, a program dedicated to recruiting, supporting and mentoring female talent across operations and preparing them for future leadership positions.

Having recently secured $550 million in fresh funding, Virgin Voyages also announced last month the addition of 27 new summer and winter itineraries and 19 new ports debuting across its fleet for the 2024-2025 season, now open for reservations.

For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.