skift take
— Sean O'Neill
Lindblad Expeditions on Wednesday announced further details about an expanded marketing partnership with Disney to increase sales of luxury river and ocean cruises.
When Lindblad announced in November that it had expanded its marketing partnership with Disney's National Geographic brand, the company highlighted three new market opportunities. Disney began using its sales channels to promote co-branded travel. Support for Lindblad to expand the number and size of ships he sails. We also assist Disney in creating immersive storytelling for customers and travelers.
At Wednesday's earnings conference, executives pointed to the possibility of further increasing its marketing capabilities.
Founder and CEO Sven Olof Lindblad said that for the first time, Disney will leverage its own sales channels and marketing to promote National Geographic-branded cruises. It will also allow Lindblad Expeditions to expand its branded tours around the world, rather than essentially limiting them to audiences in the United States and Europe.
The partnership should allow Lindblad to maximize occupancy of its current fleet and reduce customer acquisition costs, executives said.
The comments came as Lindblad set several company records last year. We welcomed more guests (30,000) than the previous year. It generated record revenue of $570 million. Generated record EBITDA of $71 million.
Closer marketing coordination allows for more sales
For the past 20 years, Lindblad Expeditions sold travel and National Geographic had its own sales channels, with each funnel having different financial mechanisms and strategies.
“That has been completely eliminated,” Lindblad said. “So we're all looking in the exact same direction. No one cares what channel the business comes from,” he said.
“The Lindblad and Disney teams meet regularly and in a disciplined manner over long periods of time to develop strategy and tactics. The effort between the organizations has been very collaborative.”
fleet expansion
The deal will also help Lindblad gain confidence in expanding its fleet, which has already grown 60% since 2016.
“Disney, National Geographic, Lindblad…the combined power of that will likely accelerate our efforts to acquire new vessels, whether or not we acquire existing vessels.” Lindblad he said.
This agreement gives Lindblad the option to expand its fleet offering to customers in the United States and Canada from vessels that can accommodate up to 295 passengers to vessels that can accommodate up to 530 passengers.
Executives said the deal's promises will make it easier and more justifiable to raise funds to acquire new ships.
Strengthen your technology game and sales team
Lindblad Expeditions claimed to have improved its technology and sales team size to be able to benefit from the expected surge in business.
“2023 was, in many ways, a year of transition on this front. We launched a new reservations system, the final component of a multi-year digital stack transformation. CRM was also included.” [customer relationship management system]a new connectivity management system, a new digital asset management system, and a new customer data platform,” said CEO Lindblad.
“We are already seeing record bookings through our website,” he said. “We're seeing higher conversion rates in all parts of the funnel, and we're delivering stronger guest service metrics in our contact centers.”
“With the expansion of our sales team and upgrades to our digital lead generation capabilities, we have focused on driving first-time bookings through advanced search campaigns to capture and convert more leads than ever before. ,” he said.
Photo credit: Adventure travelers board the Lindblad expedition ship Islander II. Source: Skift.
