NORWEGIAN Cruise Line,
known for its freestyle
cruising concept, is to
grow its market share and
brand awareness in Southernand
Central Africa after
appointing three key preferred
sales agents (PSAs) in
South Africa.
It has entered into new
marketing and distribution
contracts with Johannesburgbased
Development
Promotions and Durban-based
Inspirations Travel & Tours
(ITT), while renewing its longstanding
partnership with
Cape Town’s Triton Cape Sea
Travel, which previously held
the contract since 2000.
This was announced by
Christian Böll, NCL’s md for
Europe, Middle-East and Africa,
and Nick Wilkinson, gm for
Northern Europe, Middle East
and Africa, following a joint
strategy meeting with all three
partners in Cape Town earlier
this month.
“We have identified South
Africa, Southern- and Central
Africa as prime markets for us,
in line with our global strategy
of expanding our presence
around the globe,” Nick said.
NCL’s existing SA market share
was estimated at 20% and the
company was targeting doubledigit
growth year-on-year, he
added.
By expanding its PSA
base, Christian said NCL
would expand its distribution
across South Africa, extend
its reach into sub-Saharan
Africa and enable investment
opportunities across a much
wider distribution network.
The plan is for each PSA to
market to its preferred travel
trade partners and so expand
NCL’s customer base across
the region, but agents will still
be able to book through any of
the three PSAs. DP md, Jackie
Adami, said the arrangement
with NCL was “very well
structured” to ensure that
all travel consortia would
receive the same deals and
commissions. “NCL does not
want to shift the market but to
gain market,” she explained.
The three companies would
also work together, for
example, in running road
shows for NCL.
“It’s a new concept to sit
around the table with your
competitors and discuss how
to market a product,” said
ITT’s director of business and
marketing, Dana Webber. She
said ITT would draw on its
strong presence in Southernand
Central Africa to package
tours, such as three nights
in New York followed by a
four-night NCL cruise. It would
also focus on opening South
America to South Africans.
Triton Cape owner, Stewart
Venn, said the company had
been fortunate to have had the
sole distribution contract with
NCL in this market for so long,
as the cruise line operated
through multiple partners in
other countries. He said NCL’s
greater focus on South Africa
meant more resources in
terms of marketing support
and road shows. With
incentive cruising picking up,
Triton Cape would focus on
group and incentives for, he said.
