Key executives of Hurtigruten visited Sydney this week to update the trade on its future direction.
Damian Perry, Managing Director and Vice President Sales, Asia Pacific Hurtigruten Group was joined by Amber Wilson, Sales Director, Asia Pacific; and Joel Victoria, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific to host trade and select media at Sails Restaurant, Lavender Bay.
Perry began by stating that the key purpose of the event was to address any confusion and “outline their clear pathway forward.”
From November this year, Huritgruten will be split into two businesses: Hurtigruten (Norway only); and HX Hurtigruten Expeditions.
Reasons for the split and rebrand
“We’re on a bit of a journey as a business. Historically we’ve been Hurtigruten Group and that means that we’ve included Hurtigruten Expeditions and Hurtigruten,” said Perry.
“Hurtigruten itself is the Norway business and we fundamentally focus on the coast of Norway, and we also sail up to Svalbard. It’s the original…. there are 34 ports and it’s been operating for 130 years,” said Perry.
“But from November this year, we’re on a pathway to split these two businesses: same family, same owners, but split businesses,” he said.
The reason behind the change, Perry explained, is to make it clear for guests how the product offering and experience of the two different cruise types are vastly different.
“We decided that we had to make a clear pathway for our guests, and that’s the story we’re on and the journey right now. By November, we’re going to split these businesses and we’re going to have a business called HX Huritgruten Expeditions.
“I would suggest that within about a year’s time, you’ll see HX and we’ll lose the name Hurtigruten – that’s a bit of a journey in its own right, to create its own identity,” he said.
“Hurtigruten is 130 years old, you can’t change that… that’s not going anywhere,” he said.
“There is nothing else like this and the uniqueness of our experience on the coast. We’ve got 90 shore excursions and 80 suppliers on the coast. We’ve got partners who supply just the smallest elements in different ports, and our menus are decided by what’s available in a day’s time. So that experience in Norway is incredibly unique. It’s the one and only way to really experience Norway, and that’s the feedback we get as well,” he said.
Made in Norway and ‘Norwegianess’
After viewing an inflight magazine’s ‘cruise edition’, Perry noticed that a lot of the cruise companies were all using very similar storytelling techniques and verbiage to describe their products and brand. Something was amiss to Perry and his colleagues, realising that perhaps Hurtigruten’s messaging was wrong as it wasn’t standing out for the unique product that it represents.
The team got together to discuss in detail concepts, ideas and visions.
“We came up with this term (which is not an actual word) ‘Norwegianess’ – and it was about us celebrating being a Norwegian business. We’re the only ones up there with this history and with this in-depth model,” said Perry.
Then, he said, “the stars aligned” because what was unknown to them at the time and taking shape in the background was the Norwegian government developing a ‘Made in Norway’ concept whereby 30 brands have been bestowed the honour to claim ‘Made in Norway’ status; and Hurtigruten is the only travel brand in the world granted with the honour and given the rights to use the ‘Made in Norway’ stamp.
“So we then blended Made in Norway with our thinking and our vision about ‘Norwegianness’ and thought to ourselves…we have to really double down on everything,” he said.
Perry discussed the resulting new brand campaign and sale that is currently rolling out, which boldly features such Norwegian phrases as ‘happy salmon’ and ‘take it as good fish’.
“When we presented this back to Hedda Felin, our CEO and a generational Norwegian, she was just laughing her head off. She said ‘these are sayings I use in my family every single day’. We’ll go to meetings now and she’ll ask me ‘Damian, are you a happy salmon today’”?
New voyage categories
Hurtigruten has now introduced new voyage categories. Where it once had Original Voyages, it now offers Signature Voyages and Discovery Voyages.
“The Signature Voyages involve doing the coast of Norway in a different way. We’re still hugging the coast….but on the Signature Voyages, we’re not doing the 34 ports but we’re actually just choosing the very best places to go. We’re spending longer in fjords and in certain villages and towns. So it’s a slow experience with lots of different choices, and it’s an elevated experience as well. We’ve moved it to a premium level,” he said
“Our Original Voyages are incredibly popular; and we’ve got Discovery Voyages which take you up to Svalbard and to some incredibly unique places indeed,” he said.
The Original Voyages house the Follow the Lights lights program, “which is the most popular touring program in this marketplace and next year, we’ll have around 150 departures on Follow the Lights over the winter season,” he said.
Focus on sustainability
“Something that really underpins who we are as an organisation is our focus on sustainability. For us, there’s so many different things we look at. We’re looking at bringing our business towards zero emissions, and that’s something we’re targeting for innovation; on protecting nature and local communities; investing in people, and we’re very, very focused on reducing waste dramatically” he said.
“We’re still targeting 2030 to build our first zero mission ship. This is feasible… it’s not just a pretty picture and concept that won’t work because there’s been more development lately about the fins, the sails, the solar power, the battery solutions, and its very feasible because of our coastal supply chain and the fact that we have so many ports where we can also charge as we go along the coast with battery shore power.”
“We’re getting very close to the stage where we commit to build, which is really exciting,” said Perry.
For more information, visit hurtigruten.com/group
