Hurtigruten will use storytelling to amplify its message in global markets, including Australia and New Zealand, that its ‘new’ Signature itineraries are permanent editions to the Norwegian company’s voyage collection.
Hedda Felin, CEO of Hurtigruten Norway says the North Cape Express and Svalbard Express that launched in June last year – timed to coincide with the ocean operator’s 130th anniversary – have been a huge success, and were well supported by the Oceania region.
The two Signature itineraries were introduced from Oslo. The North Cape Express differs from the ‘original’ North Cape Line primarily by the amount of time the ships stay in port. Whereas the original line visits multiple ports and some of which are less than an hour, the ‘Express’ provides a longer window in port.
“Importantly the stops are not in and out. They are 6-8 hours in each port enabling guests to explore the country. It’s been very successful here,” Helin told LATTE on her first-ever visit to Sydney and Australia last week.
Subscribe to LATTE Cruise’s free eNewsletter to keep up to date with everything in the luxury cruise space.The North Cape Express operates from September to March from Oslo, and from March to September the other Signature trip, the Svalbard Express, operates.
“I think a lot of people around the world thought it was a special anniversary itinerary, but it will continue.”
She said travellers who are making long-haul visits to Norway want more time in remote, almost inaccessible coastal towns, which Hurtigruten unlocks.
“Instead of 1.5 hours on the Original line, they are getting up to 8 hours on the Signature. That makes a huge difference.”
In those extended port calls, Hurtigruten can offer history excursions, sport and hiking options, culinary encounters, local farm visits, art tours and more. “You can really do a lot of different things.”
Felin said Australia remains a “very important market for us”. And while only a small slice of Hurtigruten’s global reach, Australia is the brands’ fastest-growing market in the world.
“Norway is hot as a destination, and Scandinavia seems to be on everyone’s bucket list,” she told LATTE during our exclusive one-on-one interview. She said the “nature phenomenon” that is the Northern Lights, is “very, very high on people’s awareness right now.”
“Australians don’t climb the curve, rather they are ahead of the curve of upcoming trends,” she adds.
“Slow travel and the Scandinavian style fit very well with the sustainability aspect which I’m very fond of and pushing hard and want shake up the whole cruise industry about,” she said.
“Guests are more aware, more conscious, more educated on the topic. The tourist wants to have a good feeling when they come home and perhaps it is the Celtic heritage that creates a need for slow travel.”
In an about-face from packaged food when Hurtigruten was purely connecting communities, not as a tourist route, the company has evolved its dining concept over the past 10 years, and even more so in the past two to three. Food at that time in history wasn’t important, it was maybe a burger or a meatball.”
“Now, there are a lot of new food concepts based on hyperlocal ingredients and local specialities. Hurtigruten has a 130-year history on the Norwegian coast. Reviving food traditions is quite cool.”
“We are building on the history of the traditions with very advanced food concepts,” she said.
Guests can now eat their way through Norway, with a different menu every day, reflecting where you are on the coast. Specialty and the freshest ingredients based on the season and location, scallops with herbs in the autumn and reindeer in the north, Felin adds.
The core North Cape Line still remains a vital part of the business for communities and for the guest experience, accessing some of the most remote places that no other operator can reach, “especially not the large ships,” she concluded.
