Quark Expeditions has appointed a former executive with Worldwide Travel to a newly created role responsible for overseeing the company's overall growth plans.
Ed Bonner will serve as the the company's vice president of product, charged with leading its product, brand strategy and customer experience activities.
His key initial focus will be launching of Quark's first hybrid, luxury expedition vessel World Explorer for the 2018-2019 Antarctica season.
The company said Bonner has a long history of strategy, product and marketing leadership in consumer packaged goods, entertainment and most recently travel.
Before coming to Quark Expeditions, he was executive vice president of leisure at Worldview Travel, a major Virtuoso travel agency with offices in Canada, the United States and Bermuda.
“Ed is an outstanding business leader with extensive experience driving growth through innovative product development and the creation of exceptional customer experiences," said chief executive Andrew White. "His wealth of knowledge and entrepreneurial experience will be invaluable as we enter our next phase of growth."
Bonner recently took a trip to Antarctica through Quark Expeditions and said he was impressed with the company's field staff and expedition experience.
"I’m looking forward to the challenge of building on Quark’s heritage of polar firsts and delivering exciting, new polar adventures," he said.
Quark Expeditions, a subsidiary of Travelopia founded in 1991, charters nine vessels that carry under 200 passengers, including six expedition ships, two ice breakers and a 12-passenger exploration boat.
