Norwegian Cruise Line Bliss has  capacity for 4,004 passengers. Source: Norwegian Cruise Line.

New cruise contracts with Holland America Line, Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) allows Dufry Group to expand its market share through a ‘very interesting channel’, Dufry CEO Julían Díaz announced today.

In a statement, Dufry Group says the new concessions will grow its cruise retail space by a total of 2,800sq m, with added leases covering operations onboard eight Holland America Line vessels, Norwegian Cruise Line Bliss and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Inspiration.

The additional contracts increase Dufry’s vessel presence from 17 to 27, spanning routes across the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska and Asia, with plans to continue this expansion.

Praising the agreements as illustrating the strength of the travel retailer’s expertise and portfolio across several retail formats, Díaz said: “One of Dufry’s main ambitions along the years has been very clear: to grow in touristic destinations and the cruise market has been playing an important role in this context, being one of the most dynamic channels in recent years.

“We would like to thank Holland America Line, Norwegian Cruise Line as well as Carnival Cruise Line for entrusting Dufry with the mission of serving their passengers while offering excellence in our services within all our shops. We are confident that this successful alliance will support us in developing even further our operations within the cruise line segment.”

Julían Díaz, CEO, Dufry: “We will continue to develop and expand our market share in cruise lines and we are very excited with this new endeavour.”

FIVE-YEAR HOLLAND DEAL

A five-year agreement with Carnival subsidiary Holland America spans 1,744sq m of retail space across eight shops.

Aside core duty free categories, the stores will merchandise souvenirs, sundries, apparel, leather & fashion accessories, sunglasses, fashion & custom jewellery and electronics.

In addition, Holland America and Dufry have curated a new souvenirs and logo programme that aims to elevate the onboard retail experience to reflect the premium cruise line brand.

“We are reimagining the on-board shopping experience at Holland America Line by bringing on more regional items, premium products and quality logo gear”, commented Orlando Ashford, President, Holland America Line.

“Just as we have elevated many areas of our cruise product over the past few years, we anticipate that the retail enhancements will be popular with our guests and establish us as a retail leader in our industry”.

Meanwhile, NCL’s Bliss boasts a retail area of 750sq m where Dufry will operate all categories including fine jewellery.

Brands set to showcase include MontBlanc, Hublot, Tag Heuer, Longines, Chanel, Dior, Clinic, Estée Lauder, Lancôme and Colombian Emeralds International in combination with Effy (fine jewellery).

Dufry will also run a shop-in-shop concept with items designed by renowned artist Wyland who created the hull art featuring dolphins.

Finally, travel retail’s market leader will run 250sq m of space featuring all core categories plus fine watches, fashion and custom jewellery onboard Carnival Inspiration.

Holland America Line celebrated its 145th anniversary in April. Pictured: Nieuw Statendam. Source: Holland America Line.

CRUISE PAX 26.7M IN 2017

The latest Carnival venture means Dufry now sells on three of the cruise giant’s ships, the other two being Carnival Sensation and Carnival Valor.

According to the latest data from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), 26.7m people took to the seas in 2017 – exceeding initial forecasts of 25.8m – with numbers projected to grow to 28m this year.

North America took the lion’s share of ocean passenger volume (49%), followed by Europe (26%) and Asia (15%).

Referencing a CLIA survey, Dufry says the majority of travel agents reported an increase in cruise-based sales last year.