It’s hard to believe that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) only commenced its APAC operations four years ago, on 1 October 2015, with Steve Odell, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific at the helm in Sydney.
Since that time NCLH – which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises (OCI) and Regent Seven Seas (RSSC) – has truly established itself in the burgeoning APAC cruise market. The company now has seven local offices and two customer call centres in Sydney and Hong Kong.
“Looking back, what we’ve achieved in four short years is rather remarkable. From a core start up team of six, our head count now exceeds 150 people,” said Mr Odell.
“With APAC delivering some of the fastest growth in the world, the initiatives we activate now will help set the foundations for our continued success into the future making us very excited about the next phase in our journey.”
Mr Odell revealed that significant investment in the fleet’s product offering, coupled with increased local deployments, a focus on the fly-cruise market and having the right team in place to steer expansion were all core to the company’s road map for the future.
“From a baseline of two regionally based ships in 2015, there will be eleven NCLH vessels sailing in local waters in 2020, including the year-round Asia deployment of Norwegian Spirit and a fifth homeport season in Sydney for Norwegian Jewel, just announced.”
Establishing NCLH as Australia’s preeminent fly/cruise operator is another strategic step towards future-proofing the company’s success.
“Relatively unencumbered by the churn of weekly local departures, and having firmly established our credentials as a leading fly/cruise operator in mature markets such as Europe, Hawaii and more recently Alaska, we are continuing to diversify our promotional efforts to grow emerging destinations such as the Baltics, the Caribbean and Asia. Our World Cruises and Grand Voyages are also increasing in popularity, providing a real point of difference for our brands,” Mr Odell said.
Corporately, NCLH has eleven brand new ships on order for delivery by 2027: Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore launching this November, to be followed by six new Leonardo Class ships – one every year from 2022 until 2027; two new Allura Class ships for Oceania Cruises – one earmarked for launch in 2022 and the next in 2025; and two new Explorer class ships for Regent Seven Seas Cruises including Seven Seas Splendor launching in 2020, with a sister ship to follow in 2023.
“NCLH’s continued investment in its fleet, not only in new builds, but also as part of a US$1 billion+ fleet-wide enhancement program, ensures its entire flotilla is maintained to the highest standard. Delivering industry leading product plays a pivotal role not only in our pricing strategy and attracting new passengers to our brands, but also in retaining our high satisfaction ratings and large numbers of repeat cruisers who choose to journey with us time and time again.
“We also strive to lead in innovation. This encompasses cutting-edge technology designed to enhance the onboard experience, through to environmental initiatives actioned as part of our ‘Sail and Sustain’ program – designed to reduce our environmental footprint print both shipboard and shoreside.”
Mr Odell also acknowledged the importance of having the right people and partners.
“A plan is only is good as the people you have in place to drive it. We recently announced a number of newly created executive roles to provide commercial leadership and optimise synergies across the organisation in the Asia Pacific as we grow. These appointments, and continued collaboration with our valued trade partners, is essential to our future growth strategy and building momentum going into 2020 and beyond.”
IMAGE: Steve Odell, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd
