Hurtigruten has unveiled a brand new travel agent website, including the resource-rich “Amundsen Explorer Club” agent certification program. The new site also offers a litany of support materials in addition to training. Everything under one roof – webinars, brochure, video and photo libraries, special offers for agents, group planning info, marketing tools, detailed information on all of Hurtigruten’s many adventure products, and the names and contact information for their local Hurtigruten sales rep.
As experiential travel continues to grow in popularity and in options, travel agents must become more and more knowledgeable about the opportunities and entities that best fit their client’s dreams. Hurtigruten’s more than century-long experience in sailing in the Artic, and now Antarctic, makes it an ideal avenue to fill most bucket lists. Hurtigruten’s certification program teaches agents to take an educational approach with their clients – pointing out the unique features and benefits of the Hurtigruten experience – and how it differs from traditional cruising. How the hands-on is often more memorable a vacation than the passive wait and see.
Travel agents learn about the 123-year history of the line, ship details, the uniqueness of all of the company’s adventure/expedition destinations — Norway, the Arctic’s Spitsbergen, Antarctica, Greenland and Iceland, themed cruising, the company’s focus on the fresh-to-the-season ingredients in their restaurants, how to sell groups, best practices for prospecting potential clients, and most importantly – how to close the sale, including the online booking process. Graduates enjoy exclusive use of the Amundsen Club logo, e-newsletters, priority FAM access, as well as exclusive offers and incentives.
There is also the added opportunity to win a trip-of-a-lifetime. A travel agent contest that ends on July 16 shows the appreciation Hurtigruten has for the efforts of so many agency partners. Hurtigruten’s top 10 retail travel agents will be rewarded with a complimentary nine-day adventure for two to the Arctic’s Spitsbergen and Coastal Norway, October 1-9, 2015. Each winner and their guest will join Gordon Dirker, the company’s North American managing director, on a trip to the remote island of Spitsbergen, within the Svalbard Archipelago, where excursion options include a boat trip to Esmark Glacier, dog sledding on wheels or a wilderness evening at Camp Barentsburg. Afterward, tour guests will board the MS Midnatsol for a four-day voyage along the fjord-lined Norwegian Coast. Winners will be announced by July 17, 2015.
Hurtigruten, www.hurtigrutenagents.com