Hurtigruten confirms new UK MD

Hurtigruten has announced that Magnus Zetterberg has joined the company as its new UK managing director.

Zetterberg was previously the CEO of Travelear, an e-commerce company for airlines. His experience also includes 12 years at Scandinavian Airlines. He left the company while vice president of e-commerce and distribution. Prior to that, he held roles in business intelligence, performance management & group strategy.

“I’m very happy to have Magnus on board,” sais Arild Kaale, the company’s commercial director. “With his broad experience in the tourism industry he will contribute with inspiration, clear leadership and focus on increased growth in UK  & Ireland.

Zetterberg commented “It is an exciting time to join Hurtigruten, with new ships and new product in the pipeline for 2016. Much of my previous experience is in the online arena, so I’m particularly pleased to see the new web platform that launched this week and am very excited about the plans for its future development, both within the trade and consumer areas.”

The move has come on the same day that Hurtigruten revealed its brand new website for the UK market. The new site will be rolled out across the brand’s other territories.

“Aiming for a pole position in online customer services within the global travel industry, we bring to market what we consider to be a “digital lighthouse”. The new web page mirrors and expands the unique real life experience of a Hurtigruten voyage, said Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam. He says the new web-solution will change how Hurtigruten do business in general. “The site will lead the way into an even more customer-oriented and insight-driven way of communicating with our customers at all arenas.”

“The Hurtigruten experience is unique and we need a site that will inspire people to join us on our journeys to the extremes of the earth”, said Richard Adams, head of marketing for Hurtigruten in the UK and Ireland. “With that in mind, there is a lot more content about the places we visit, the activities on offer and the unique Hurtigruten voyage. Whether you want to learn more about the king crab from the Barents Sea or Kjeungskjaer  – one of Norway’s most distinctive lighthouses, it brings the whole experience to life“.

He added: “The new site is just the first step in our plans to give customers a much more tailored and relevant experience. Over time we aim to offer visitors a more personalised view – recommendations will be made based on their past experiences and content will be adapted to suit their wants and needs. In short, we are launching a platform that offers a much improved site and which has the capacity to help us realise our ambition to offer a world class experience. A series of additional initiatives will follow in the coming months.”