Profile: Mark Conroy, Silversea Cruises New Managing Director-Americas

Conroy: Taking the helm at Silverseas in the Americas 

For the past three years one of the major questions in the cruise business that I consistently heard was: Where will Mark Conroy end up? The answer came last week when he was named managing director of the Americas for Silversea Cruises, based in the luxury line’s Miami office.  

One of his first agenda items in his new position is to make Silversea stand out by continuing to build on his strong personal relationship with travel agents. “The first thing I looked at…was when was the last time we did anything for travel-agent appreciation?” he told TMR. Unfortunately, the answer was “not recently.” So Silversea will be announcing a travel-agent appreciation month, most likely in the next week or two.  

“We’ll be recognizing agencies, providing benefits and highlighting how important agents are to our continued success,” Conroy said. “I’m going to hit the road and meet face-to-face with people. Our sales team is energetic and some of them have been with this company a long time, while others have prior experience with some of the larger cruise lines. I think that’s a real benefit that will help us reach those customers and agencies that may not be ones that have dealt with Silversea in the past.” 

A little background
Conroy is a veteran cruise executive. He served as president and CEO of Regent Seven Seas Cruises from the time Regent was created in 1992 as Radisson Seven Seas Cruises until February 2013—one of the longest tenures as CEO in the cruise business. He also served as president of Renaissance Cruises, as vice president of Royal Viking Line, and as director of group sales and passenger services for Norwegian Cruise Line.  

After leaving Regent with a two-year non-compete agreement, Conroy did some consulting for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), and for a few tour operators, hedge funds, and a small private equity firm looking for insights into the cruise business. Mostly he helped his daughter build a riding stable—“but I did miss the people in the industry and the excitement of day-to-day operations.” 

Just before Christmas Conroy had a conversation with Silversea Cruises chairman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio. The job he offered was “interesting because Manfredi and I been friendly but we’ve been competing against each other for years,” Conroy said. In fact, when he was overseeing Radisson Seven Seas he tried about a half-dozen times to put together some kind of merger with Silversea. But “at the end of the day it was always a question of who was going to be in charge at the ownership level, and nothing ever happened.”  

Conroy next spoke with Silversea CEO Enzo Visone, and Christian Sauleau, executive vice president of operations, who had helped Conroy build Radisson Seven Seas in the 1990s. Ultimately he decided to take the job as managing director-the Americas, with responsibility for sales and marketing, guest relations and passenger services, and the whole operation in North America. 

“The real issue is where I can add most to this equation by better defining and operating the selling process,” Conroy said. “We’re doing well but we can do better. And we have increased capacity substantially. We want to make sure our sales team is ready to fill the additional capacity we are going to have, and at the same time fill the existing fleet.”

Focus on three sets of customers
Silversea is all about growth; it has added three expedition ships over the past few years for a total fleet of eight vessels. One more, the Silversea Muse, is set to debut in spring 2017.  

But Conroy’s first order of business was to meet with his staff and talk about the business philosophy that made him successful. The key is to be relentlessly focused on three customers: guests, travel agents, and employees. 

“Obviously we’re focused on the people who sail on our ships and pay our bills, and the great news is that on any given sailing over half the people onboard are past guests, so we have a loyal base of customers,” he said. “They are coming back and they tell other people about us.” 

The second customer, the travel trade, is the key to “explaining the differentiation between us and the other brands.” 

Travel agents play a key role in the growth of the company. “I know where our past customers are, but I don’t know where our future customers are, and obviously agents are helping us get those people,” he said. Travel professionals “know where those premium and contemporary customers are who don’t realize they can afford a Silversea cruise because of the inclusive nature.” 

“If we don’t serve the first two sets of customers, that makes the job for the people on the ship so much harder,” Conroy said, and that brings us to the third set of customers: fellow employees.  

Conroy said he asks his staff to “really think about what you can do to make your fellow employees successful, because at the end of the day we all have to be successful together.”  

Then he asks them think like an owner. “Ask yourself: Am I spending my resources, talent, and treasure in the way that’s best for the company and best for me? Or are there better ways to do things where we can be smarter in spending time and money?”

Diverse cruise offering
Fortunately, Conroy seems to have arrived at Silversea at an opportune time, when the company’s strategy seems to be coming together. Its five small luxury cruise ships, all with under 500 guests, sail itineraries around the globe. Three other exploration ships offer more exotic sailings to the Arctic, Antarctica, Russian Far East, Galapagos, and beyond, all with the same high-end food and service. That means Silversea can offer an extremely diverse set of itineraries and experiences to new and returning customers. It also offers Silversea a way to distinguish itself from other luxury cruise lines.  

“Active cruisers have a bucket list of places they want to go,” Conroy said. “And the great news about having ships that do Antarctica, the Arctic, and the Galapagos is those are all on most people’s bucket lists.” 

Next spring Silversea will launch the 596-guest Silver Muse. “We’ve looked at what people like and where we could improve,” Conroy said. “It’s an evolution of the Silversea fleet versus a revolution. We are probably the most European of all the luxury cruise lines, so our ships have that European feeling to them. The theme of the Muse is kind of an expansion on that.”  

But Silversea guests also have asked for a larger pool deck, additional dining concepts, and more large suites, so those will be added. 

Farther ahead, Silversea plans to convert the Silver Cloud into an expedition ship and also has an option to build another ship like the Silver Muse.  

Conroy’s challenge, of course, is to differentiate Silversea in the luxury cruise space, which seems to be growing exponentially. How will he do that?  

“All of the cruise lines have great food and great service, and they keep the ships nice,” he said. “Our real point of differentiation is the smaller size of our vessels, our ability to deliver personalized service, and our ability to have itineraries that are unique and a bit out of the way, or even ones that provide more customized service in the bigger ports.”