Hurtigruten has just revealed plans to “substantially” expand its business in the Asia-Pacific region throughout 2019 and 2020 by building a dedicated Australia sales, marketing and operations team.
This year Hurtigruten has sourced around 60,000 guest nights from the Australian market, many of them through long-term partnerships with carefully selected Travel Agents.
Now Hurtigruten aims to further strengthen its regional position by opening a dedicated Australia-based office.
Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam said he was confident that the line’s sustainable offering was highly attractive for Australia and New Zealand based guests.
Skjeldam has spent the past week in Australia, where Hurtigruten recently launched a .com.au website and is soon to expand their regional team.
“Hurtigruten’s story and products resonate very well with the Australian market, and customer insights support our strong focus on sustainability.”
Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam
Hurtigruten Australia and APAC Managing Director Damian Perry said the Hurtigruten Australia team would be “passionate like-minded experts and leaders that will support the travel industry and partnerships to build our brand”.
Hurtigruten is dedicated to green initiatives and has invested more than 850 million USD into green technology and sustainability initiatives.
The expedition cruise line is currently building the world’s first hybrid battery powered cruise ship, MS Roald Amundsen at Norway’s Kleven yard.
Debuting in 2019, she will be followed by MS Fridtjof Nansen and a third sister ship in 2021.
In another industry first, Hurtigruten is completely rebuilding existing ships to run on a combination of large battery packs, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biogas (LBG) made from organic waste such as dead fish.
Hurtigruten is also pushing for the construction of shore power facilities and a global ban of heavy fuel oil.
- READ: FISHY CRUISING: Hurtigruten to power ships with dead fish
- READ: GREEN POWER: Hurtigruten orders a third hybrid expedition ship