Norwegian Cruise line organised virtual luncheon to discuss their plans of resuming travel opportunities in the Indian market after staying away for long due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Norwegian Cruise line conducted a virtual luncheon to celebrate the continuation of travel opportunities and discuss the cruise line plans for 2021 in the Indian market. The host also played a recently launched TV commercial encouraging travellers to ‘break free’ from the clutches of indoor existence.

Addressing the event, Nicholas Lim, General Manager Sales Asia, Norwegian Cruise Line said, “India is, is a place that I've been quite frequently in the past 10 years. And I look very much forward to being there in India in this very exciting role here with Norwegian cruise lines.”

“This industry is currently one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors in India. And I feel 2021 will be very promising for us, and I hope soon our Indian travellers can hop onboard and experience newly refurbished ships that we have in store,” said Manoj Singh, Country Head, India, Norwegian Cruise Line.

While taking questions raised by journalists on the potential of the Indian market Ben Angell, Vice President & Managing Director of the Asia Pacific region for Norwegian Cruise Line said, “I would define the Indian market as ‘extremely important’. India is more important than you might imagine. There have been times where India has been the largest revenue contributing market in Asia. And I know that we can easily return to those days. There have been a number of factors outside of our control that actually pushed Japan ahead of India, but India is still a fantastic market for us. It's our number two market in Asia. It's our number three market in Asia Pacific and Asia Pacific is a significant and growing share of global business.”

Addressing the question on NCL's promotional plans for Indian market, Angell said, “We are going to invest more in 2021 in India than we have ever invested before. Now that is considerable considering the environment that we face in 2021. I can tell you that we have an extremely strong promotion plan for January, February, and March in 2021. Now I can't release the details just yet, but we will release those details extremely soon.”

“I can tell you that it's a promotion that has a proven track record for the India market. This promotion resonates with our guests and our future guests in India. So, we are going to finish up 2020 knowing that we are giving ourselves the very best opportunity for January, February, and March to be the strongest, first quarter that we've ever seen in the Asia Pacific region. And I believe based on the green sheets, I'm seeing that Indian guests will book and we'll book well through that three month period,” he added.

The event concluded by showcasing a trailer of the first episode of their docuseries, ‘Embark docuseries.’ It features “The Choir of Man” cast performing at London’s historic West End Garrick Theatre.