By
Rebecca Gibson |
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd is to open a sales and marketing centre in Australia, to support the growing demand for cruise travel in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Located in Sydney, the new office will offer sales and marketing support for all three of the company’s cruise brands including Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. It will provide additional training opportunities on a more regular basis and will offer on-site support to current travel industry partners and local representatives.
“In view of the growing international interest in cruising combined with our strong growth strategy, the new office in Australia is a natural next step in our global expansion of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings,” said Harry Sommer, executive vice president of international business development for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “It reflects our confidence in the growing Australia and New Zealand markets and we believe that our three brands – Norwegian with Freestyle Cruising, Oceania Cruises as an upper premium product and Regent Seven Seas Cruises in the luxury sector – are all a perfect fit for the Australian market, offering a wide variety of experiences and worldwide itineraries.”
Industry veteran Steve Odell will head the office as Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd’s senior vice president and managing director for Australasia. From 1 October 2015, Odell will be responsible for the continued growth of the company’s presence in the region and differentiating each brand’s unique offerings.
Odell has played a key role in establishing the luxury cruise segment in Australasia since 2000, most recently serving as Silversea’s president EMEA and Asia Pacific. He also served as chairman of International Cruise Council Australasia (now CLIA Australasia) between 2005-2007 and was a founding board member of the Asia Cruise Association (now CLIA Asia).