Norwegian Adds New Sales Support For Home-Based Agents

NCL’s Spirit.

Norwegian Cruise Line announced additions to its Partners First travel agent program that will focus on independent travel professionals and host travel agencies.

Partners First is a commitment to Norwegian’s travel partners, Norwegian’s president and COO Andy Stuart said at CLIA’s Cruise360 conference in Vancouver last week. It’s designed to make sure the company is easy do to business with, invests in the agency channel, listens to agents, and doesn’t pursue direct business.

Last year at CLIA’s Cruise360, Norwegian announced a 40% expansion in its field sales team and vowed it would empower that team to make decisions and be a better business partner with agents.

This year Stuart said Norwegian sees an opportunity to dedicate an entire team to home-based agents and their hosts. “We felt there was more opportunity to do what we do for different segments of the agency community,” he said. “We felt we had to do a better job to support the independent travel professional. Cruise lines have struggled to support that segment. It’s difficult to support because it doesn’t reside in a brick and mortar agency.”

A new Partners First team, led by Clark Reber, Norwegian’s director of trade marketing and engagement and a 20-year cruise veteran, now will offer dedicated sales support and marketing training to the home-based agent channel. “We are going to try to eliminate the invisibility of the channel and customize our communication and outreach to this segment,” Stuart said. “We’re going to work really closely with hosts to figure out how a host sees support for members, which can be different from host to host.”

The Partners First initiative will include the company’s first independent travel professional advisory board, an independent travel professional symposium at sea, a dedicated monthly newsletter, and exclusive webinars for independent travel professionals.

Additional support and engagement includes exclusive “Let’s do Lunch” functions on board ships, invitations to Norwegian-sponsored events at national trade functions, and invitations to a Partners First weekend in Miami.

“We’ll have communication and engagement opportunities specifically tailored for home-based agents,” Stuart said, “including a dedicated sales team, technology that supports the segment, and customized outreach. We’ve been working on this for awhile, but now we’re taking it to next level.”