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Business Travel

Niche Cruising Earns High-End Appeal

Patrick Whyte

Photo Credit: A Hurtigruten cruise. Not everyone wants to go on vacation and sit on a beach. Hurtigruten

Skift Take

The rise of uber-luxury cruise ships is well documented, but what about high-end cruising without the bling? We've said it many times before, but it is worth repeating: Experience counts much more than it used to. An intimate vacation on a tiny barge or a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica can still be luxurious.

Series: New Luxury

Luxury Travel News

The Skift New Luxury column is our weekly column focused on the business of selling luxury travel, the people and companies creating and selling experiences, emerging trends, and the changing consumer habits around the sector.
Barge holidays and expedition cruises are two very different ends of the water-based travel market, but both have a lot going for them when it comes to luxury travel. For one thing, the vessels tend to be smaller than those in other forms of cruising, giving them an added air of exclusivity. And perhaps more importantly, they offer a different type of vacation than a traditional river or ocean cruise. “Traveling has been commoditized,” said Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of Norway-based Hurtigruten. “That is what’s driving the interest for expedition cruising. It’s the desire to do something and go somewhere where

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