Gary Murphy has announced his retirement from AmaWaterways as senior vice-president of sales, effective April 1. The company added that he will be succeeded by Alex Pinelo, who has been promoted from vice president of sales to the senior vice president of sales position.
“It is difficult for me to use the term ‘retirement,’ but I have two passions in my life—AmaWaterways and my family—and the time has come for me to devote more time to the second one,” said Murphy in a written statement. “The Murphys are forever attached to Rudi [Schreiner], Kristin [Karst] and the entire AmaWaterways family, and we look forward to celebrating with AmaWaterways as it continues to set the standard for river cruising around the globe. With AmaWaterways’ strong management team, the company is in an excellent position to capture a greater proportion of the river cruise market as the travel industry rebounds in the year ahead.”
Following in the footsteps of his father Jimmy Murphy, who co-founded AmaWaterways with Rudi Schreiner and Kristin Karst in 2002, Gary joined the river cruise line in 2009 and in 2013, he was appointed to vice president of sales. In 2019, he was promoted to the senior vice president of sales position and continued to play an integral role in building AmaWaterways’ relationships with travel advisors and launching support programs to meet the changing needs of the travel industry. Before joining AmaWaterways, Murphy’s travel industry experience spanned over 30 years serving various companies, including Group Voyagers in Europe, Brendan Vacations, and as vice president of marketing and sales for Miami Air International.
Karst, executive vice president and co-founder of AmaWaterways, said, “We will miss Gary’s wisdom, enthusiasm and passion on a day-to-day basis, but as a co-owner of AmaWaterways, he will remain an active member of our board representing the Murphy family, along with his sister Susan. The AmaWaterways sales team has grown and developed tremendously under Gary’s leadership, and we are so excited to see what the future holds as Alex steps into his new role.”
Alex Pinelo
As senior vice president of sales, Pinelo will continue the momentum he has built since joining AmaWaterways in 2017. Leveraging his experience in the cruise industry, he will continue to lead the sales team in strengthening the personal relationships with its travel advisor partners and communicating AmaWaterways’ value-added proposition—offering intimate ships, excursions, convenient air arrangements and pre- and post-cruise land packages.
The news of Murphy’s retirement and the Pinelo’s promotion come at a time when the company is gearing up to launch its 2022 European season in mid-March. Expansion plans for the fleet are underway, including the continued development of AmaMagdalena, which is scheduled to debut on Colombia’s Magdalena River in early 2024.
“Gary will always be a trusted partner and more than that, family. We will truly miss his insight and innovative spirit, but we look forward to continuing the legacy we’ve built with the Murphy family as we enter a very exciting new chapter for our business,” said Schreiner, president and co-founder, AmaWaterways. “AmaWaterways is approaching the 2022 river cruise season with confidence and peace of mind, knowing our ships are fully paid for and our financial security remains solid. We successfully operated 320 river cruises last year and 2022 reservations are looking very strong, particularly for the second half of the year. Good things are on the horizon for the travel industry, and we are ready.”
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