Hurtigruten’s new head of trade sales has revealed plans to build a “one-stop shop” agent portal and to host meet-and-greet trade events.
In his first interview in his new role, Mark Walter said he wanted to work more closely with existing accounts, after being promoted from national key account manager on February 6.
Walter said agent training had occasionally been “an afterthought” at Hurtigruten.
In the next six months, he plans to launch a portal for agents to access training, an image library, marketing tools and the line’s B2B booking platform.
The new portal will be designed in-house and will be linked to the existing B2B booking engine.
He said: “Agents will be able to go to one place and get all the basics. We need to drive agents to the portal and make sure that they have the knowledge because [Hurtigruten] is such a niche product.
“A little bit of knowledge about Hurtigruten goes a long way because there are a lot of clients out there looking for expertise.”
Walter also wants to launch a roadshow programme where agents will be able to put questions to Hurtigruten’s UK general manager, Anthony Daniels.
“Over the past few years it has been the on-the-road sales team, but sometimes agents need to hear a bit more of the bigger picture.
“[Putting on events] is something that we can do relatively easily.”
Hurtigruten is set to launch its 530-passenger hybrid-powered vessel Roald Amundsen on May 17, and Walter revealed how the line is planning agent ship visits.
“There will be an opportunity in the mid-summer to see Roald Amundsen,” he said.
“Fam trips are an important part of the company’s development.
“We really want the trade to experience and see the ship.”