Hurtigruten Reports Increased B2B Revenue Growth Amid Record Norway Demand

With less than half the year left, Norwegian coastline cruise specialist Hurtigruten already knows 2026 is going to finish on a high note.

“January was a record intake month for the business,” said Iain Powell, Hurtigruten CCO, talking to a lecture hall full of trade partners from around the globe at the company’s recent VIP summit held onboard the MS Trollfjord as it sailed from Bergen to Oslo. “That pace has continued through the year.”

As of the VIP Summit, Hurtigruten was already up 16% in revenue versus the same time last year, but when speaking specifically of the line’s Signature product – a program created with the North American market in mind – revenues are up even higher.

“Signature really has been a standout performer for us. As of now, our Signature revenues are 42% higher than same time last year and our B2B revenues on Signature are 48% higher than same time last year,” Powell said, adding this shows how the Signature product is “resonating exceptionally well with our partners.”

Looking ahead, Hurtigruten is currently 35% ahead of last year for 2027 departures, and “even more importantly,” Powell emphasized, the company will enter 2027 with around 60% of its revenue on the books already. In comparison, he said, in recent years that figure has hovered around 55%.

Norway As Demand Driver

While Powell attributed some of the growth to the company’s strategy execution and the strength of its partnerships, he acknowledged Hurtigruten is also riding the wave of Norway’s popularity.

There are several drivers of Norway’s growing popularity as a vacation destination (including astrotourism and coolcations), but Powell pointed out the surge in interest driven by this past summer’s World Cup.

Though all of Hurtigruten’s websites across all regions experienced a spike in traffic, in North America the company saw a 53% increase in traffic to the website and a 114% increase in web bookings during the months of June and July together.

But it wasn’t only direct bookings that spiked.

North America’s B2B Market Share

“Overall, in that period [World Cup], for North America, we saw 28% growth in B2B and 23% growth in B2C,” Powell told TMR. “It’s safe to say that B2B also capitalized on the upturn in demand in that window.”

Speaking specifically of the North American market in general, Powell told TMR that the region has been one of Hurtigruten’s strongest markets overall and continues to grow in importance. Like most cruise lines, Hurtigruten recognizes the massive opportunity that the North American market presents.

“But it’s tricky to turn that potential into actual results, but we’re seeing that. The growth has been exceptionally strong,” he said.

In 2026, revenue is up 68% from same time as last year in North America (versus the 16% globally as mentioned above). In February, Hurtigruten reached record high revenue from the North American market, then broke that record in August by 11%.

“You can see, North America is flying,” he added.

Currently, North America accounts for about 12% of all of Hurtigruten’s business, but going back two years ago, North America only accounted for some 8%.

Powell told TMR he doesn’t have specific goals for North America in terms of market share beyond seeing more growth coming from the region.

“There’s no desire of this is the percentage we want. We know the high growth markets are UK, U.S., and Germany… I suspect that in the years to come, if we’re doing this in two years’ time, North America will have grown further in its share… If we look at the delivery we’re getting out of North America compared to the opportunity in that market, we’re not saturated. There’s a long, long way to go and we will invest quite heavily in ’27 to continue to go after that market.”

Market Penetration Work to Be Done

Though North America is proving to be one of Hurtigruten’s fastest growing markets, there is still a lot of work to be done to get the word out to U.S. and Canadian travel advisors.

“We still don’t have high brand awareness,” Powell said.

Moving forward, the line is committed to expanding its educational opportunities, extending FAM trip opportunities to advisors, participating in road shows, and more. (The line is also beefing up some of its technological tools in order to be easier for advisors to work with including enhancements to its B2C website, a new API that partners can link up to, and more.)

“All of these things are really valued and the team has done an exceptional job in meeting more agents, doing more training, doing more webinars, talking to more agents on the phone. The level of understanding is starting to bleed through.”

Working with consortia, like Signature and Virtuoso, is also helping Hurtigruten make inroads.

“Look, if you’re not a large business with 20 people out on the road, the consortia are such a fantastic way for us to reach a volume of partners, but also the right partners,” he said. “If we get the consortia fit right, then we typically get the agent fit right. And I think we are seeing that play through.”

Ultimately, he added, Hurtigruten has more plans in North America.

“Education and awareness in North America is certainly both the challenge and the opportunity,” he said.