| Hurti split to drive specialisation

HURTIGRUTEN’S strategic structural change (CW 23 Oct 2020), which is rolling out now across the world, will not only allow clients to identify the group’s two different brands (Hurtigruten Coastal Express and Hurtigruten Expedition), but will also deliver operational specialisation, Managing Director APAC Damian Perry has told Cruise Weekly.

Emphasising the difference in operational expertise between the two brands, Perry said the structural change will result in a sharper execution of both products for clients, and a more agile workforce.

“The reason to [split the business] is to create an agile way of working where we have the right people in the right roles,” he said.

“You need to have an in-depth specialised skill set to run Coastal Express at the best level, and you need the same expertise to run Expedition sailings around the world in warm and cold waters.

“It’s meant we’ve had to bring different expertise into the business over time to be able to deliver on our promise.”

Perry said a supplemental result of the change is a full pipeline of concepts and expansion.

“I think the strategic change in our operation is going to deliver a huge amount of change in the marketplace,” he said.

“You’re going to see a lot of action in the next six to 12 months, and that could be more destinations, broader destinations, that could be operational expertise, expansion on our core pillars, you’ll see a whole lot of things happen.”

In the future, Australia (pictured) could feature among those destinations, with Perry revealing the country is part of “every single strategic conversation that comes up,” at Hurtigruten.

“People want us to be here…we have a lot of engagement already with key people in this part of the world,” he enthused.

“When we have these conversations from a local level, we get such a positive and open response, because they love what we do, they’ve seen how we commit to local communities around the world and they want us to bring it to their region.”