HX sales chief plans to boost agents' 'niche within a niche' cruise bookings
Nathaniel Sherborne has only been at Hurtigruten Expeditions – or HX as it is now known – for nine months, but he has already created a blueprint to boost agent sales.
Arriving as sales and marketing vice-president, UK and Nordics, Sherborne was handed “a slightly expanded remit”, overseeing global sales, in January. “We’ve historically under-indexed on trade sales compared with our direct business,” he tells TTG. “We need to do more as we bring in more partners.”
HX’s trade sales are currently up 5% year-on-year. “We do have periods where trade over indexes direct sales,” Sherborne notes. “In February, we saw some great momentum.”
Tellingly, Sherborne has expanded HX’s trade sales team, which previously consisted just of UK and Ireland sales director Mark Walter and unveiled its first fam trip programme in “years”. HX now has two trade partnerships managers, an inside sales executive and a tour operator manager to support the likes of Gold Medal. “It was clear we needed to bolster the team so we could support the trade day in, day out,” he reasons.
This year, HX hopes to offer three fam trips – one in Antarctica and two to the Galapagos Islands. “We’re doubling down on the experiences that we’re offering the trade,” he insists. “We’re in a sector that needs that level of understanding among agents. Expedition cruise is a nuanced product – someone said to me the other day – ‘it’s a niche within a niche’.”
Prior to joining HX, Sherborne held a number of top sales roles at Carnival Corporation brand P&O Cruises. Asked if he thinks his lack of expedition cruising experience has hampered him at all, Sherborne cites the help of HX chief commercial officer Alex Delamere-White, with whom he worked at P&O Cruises, and Hurtigruten’s UK and EMA vice-president Anthony Daniels, who has been replaced by Saga’s Iain Powell.
Sherborne praises Daniels for his “great support” when he started in June 2023. Daniels vacated his role suddenly last month after nine years with the Norwegian cruise company.
Sherborne believes Daniels and Delamere-White’s “Expedition cruise is a rapidly growing sector – we can do more with the trade” guidance helped him understand “misconceptions” about the sector.
Trade in focus
Training is another area of focus for Sherborne. He hopes to recruit a global sales enablement director in the coming weeks to help shape agent training. “This appointment is a sign from the business that it is serious about looking after the trade,” he explains. “We need to make sure that we have the resource behind this push. We need to support the trade from a training perspective.”
Sherborne also hints at changes to the line’s training programme. “This is one of the things that we’re reviewing,” he reveals to TTG.
Some 270 agents have already secured their places at one of HX’s ship visits in Dover, Glasgow and Edinburgh this year, with Spitsbergen and Maud featuring in the programme. “It’s great to get agents onboard,” Sherborne adds, stressing that agents can continue to apply for spots via HX’s B2B portal, which is also under review.
One statistic that stands out to Sherborne has been the 300% rise in social media followers from the trade in the last few months, which suggests his tweaks are paying off. “Expedition cruise is a rapidly growing sector,” he says. “And we’ve got more than 130 years’ experience at delivering it.”
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Harry Kemble
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