Tony Roberts will leave his role with Seabourn Cruise Line in April to join Warner Leisure Hotels after 23 years in the cruise industry.

Currently, he is vice-president global commercial operations, guest services and head of UK and Europe for the luxury cruise line, which is part of Carnival Corporation & plc.

He will join Bourne Leisure-owned Warner Leisure Hotels in the newly created role of chief commercial officer.

Lynn Narraway, Seabourn UK and Europe vice-president, will continue to lead the Seabourn business in UK and Europe.

Roberts will work with the Seabourn leadership team over the next two months to help identify the right organisational structure for the future.

He joined the Carnival group of brands 23 years ago as a management accountant in the P&O Cruises finance team, holding several roles in finance and qualifying as an accountant.

He moved to customer services and added responsibility for business development and international sales.

After two years in the IT department, Roberts joined the Princess Cruises team and led the UK and Europe team through several periods of growth.

He was also chair of cruise trade body Clia UK and Ireland for three years.

Roberts joined Seabourn a year ago in his current role, working to further raise Seabourn’s profile in the ultra-luxury cruising and expedition travel sector.

In a statement, Seabourn thanked Roberts for his 23 years with the Carnival organisation and wished him best of luck with his future endeavours.

Roberts said Warner Leisure Hotels has 16 hotels with another soon to “come online”.

He commented: “Warner Hotels is a growing business so it’s a very exciting time to be joining, given the growth plans that the organisation has.”