NCL OPENS NEW EUROPEAN SALES AND MARKETING
HEAD OFFICE
-- Company targets market growth through
increased presence in Europe--
MIAMI, Fla., January 4, 2001--Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)
announced today that a new head sales office has opened in
Bern, Switzerland, centralizing all sales and marketing efforts
for continental Europe including Austria, Benelux, France,
Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Switzerland. NCL will
continue to maintain an especially strong presence in Germany
and Scandinavia through its existing offices in Frankfurt
and Oslo with the Switzerland office now acting as the hub.
The United Kingdom office will handle sales and marketing
for the United Kingdom and Ireland, which is currently the
biggest international source for NCL passengers.
The new Bern office is indicative of NCL's intent to dramatically
grow the continental European market, and will be responsible
for sales and marketing endeavors. This will include the production
of customized brochures in the different languages of the
key European markets; the representation of NCL at major European
trade shows; the promotion of NCL's new ships and routes;
and the maintenance of a reservations office handling calls
in German, French, Italian, Spanish and Norwegian, providing
improved service and support. In September 2001, the Bern
office will roll out the new state-of-the-art global reservation
system, SeaWare, which will allow for significantly enhanced
automated distribution to travel partners through NCL's Central
Reservation System and the Internet.
"We see a tremendous amount of potential for NCL to increase
our market share in Europe," said Andy Stuart, NCL's senior
vice president of sales and marketing. "The world is getting
smaller and we look at Europe as both a vital and attainable
component in our company's continued growth. This new office
will play an important role as we actively branch out to new
markets as a global operator."
The Bern office consists of nine employees who have a wealth
of experience in the cruise and travel markets. The employees
join NCL from Kreuzfahrten Zentrale (translated as Cruise
Central), which attained a unique position as the number one
cruising agency in Switzerland and KUONI Travel LTD, the largest
Swiss tour operator. Experienced General Manager Renate Kalberer,
who had previously worked for KUONI Travel LTD since 1987,
heads the office. After promoting destinations such as Turkey,
Kenya and China, she worked as an inbound agent for Diethelm
Travel in Bangkok, Thailand. Upon her return, she managed
the offices for KUONI Travel in Nice, France and Amsterdam,
Holland for two years.
Joining Kalberer as a consultant to NCL is Rolf Junker. Junker,
the founder of Kreuzfahrten Zentrale, will consult NCL on
all facets of the European cruise market, drawing from his
cruising expertise and numerous tour operator contacts throughout
Europe.
The contact information for NCL's Bern office is:
NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE CONTINENTAL EUROPE
Bollwerk 17 - 19
3001 Bern
Switzerland
Phone: +41 31 310 21 21
Fax: +41 31 310 21 22
Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line is an international cruise
company and industry innovator that currently owns or operates
a fleet of eight ships sailing to more than 200 ports around
the world. NCL is currently building two new ships: M/S Norwegian
Sun, a 2000-passenger sister ship to the Norwegian Sky (for
delivery September 2001); and a 2,300-passenger, as-yet-unnamed
ship that will be NCL's largest (for delivery in late 2002).
As of December 2001, Star Cruises' SuperStar Leo will join
the NCL fleet and will be deployed on year-round cruises in
Hawaii.
Following the acquisition of NCL this year, Star Cruises
is now the fourth largest cruise line in the world operating
a combined fleet of 20 ships with more than 21,000 berths.
By the end of 2002, with the three ships currently on order,
Star Cruises with NCL will have approximately 28,000 lower
berths.
For further information on NCL, contact a travel agent or
NCL in the U.S. and Canada at (800) 327-7030; in Miami-Dade
County, Florida, (305) 436-0866; or visit NCL on AOL at keyword:
NCL.
For further information on Star Cruises, visit their web
site at www.starcruises.com.
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