Norwegian brands “outpacing the market”

NORWEGIAN Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has seen its Australian and New Zealand business surge 130% since establishing its local office in late 2015, and is projecting a further 20% year-on-year uplift for 2020.

The figures were unveiled by Regional Marketing Manager Ben Angell, Senior VP Harry Sommer, and MD Asia Pacific Steve Odell this week, pictured, with NCLH also reaffirming its strong focus on agency distribution.

Sommer gave an overview of performance across the Norwegian, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas brands, highlighting the “best in class net yield” and overall revenue growth, despite only adding one ship last year.

Norwegian leads across a range of metrics, he said, including costs per passenger day meaning the company is constantly investing in the guest experience.

He highlighted NCLH’s billiondollar-plus refurbishments to ensure consistent product across its “better than new fleet,” along with cuisine, entertainment, services and itineraries.

“The results speak for themselves,” Sommer said, with NCLH seeing record guest satisfaction rates, booking levels and repeat customers.

Angell highlighted the strong earning potential for agents selling Norwegian, Oceania and Regent, with the company’s strength in the growing fly-cruise sector providing significant opportunities for the travel trade.

Odell stressed that while the business was performing, there was still plenty of scope for further expansion, with destinations such as Asia, Hawaii, Alaska and the Caribbean complementing the perennially popular Europe itineraries.