Perry heads up Hurtigruten in APAC

DAMIAN Perry, former Cox & Kings ceo, has stepped into the role of managing director of Hurtigruten in the APAC region.

He takes over from William Harber, who has been promoted to president of the Americas.

Perry told Cruise Weekly Hurtigruten aimed to “build on the APAC structure and carefully consider the best model taking into consideration major matters such as the rapidly growing market in China and how we best support that key source market”.

“We could possibly consider further strategic changes once we complete our planning and review processes as we are committed to delivering the best possible structure and support across all of Asia and therefore not close the door on opportunities in mainland China or fast growing South East Asia countries,” he explained. Perry was appointed to the Cox & Kings ceo role in Apr 2015 and left last year, with the company confirming in Sep that he had decided to “move on to pursue other business endeavours”.

In his new role he will work closely with Hurtigruten’s management in Norway and directly with vice president global sales, Geir Kronbaeck.

“Damian is incredibly well respected across the industry & he brings significant experience and knowledge in experiential travel in addition to his local market expertise,” said Kronbaeck.

“He played the pivotal role in driving Hurtigruten growth in Australia and New Zealand, securing the Hurtigruten partnership and driving real growth for their business and region; and more broadly we feel he will be a great addition to our entire business,” he said.

Cox & Kings remains the GSA for Hurtigruten in Australia.