Page 10 - Expedition

EXPEDITION MARKET
The Le Bougainville
was delivered in April
and is the third of six
Explorer-class sisters.
PONANT
Taking Over the Luxury Market
“The market is booming in the
States,” said Herve Bellaiche, executive
vice president of sales for Ponant.
The French luxury expedition brand
is now sourcing some 40 percent of its
passengers in the United States, with
efforts led by Navin Sawhney, CEO of
the Americas, based out of New York.
“Our ambition is to be
the reference point
for the sustainable
development of the
cruise business.”
“Our passion delivers the destination
experience,” said Sawhney. “The cus-
tomer is not simply looking for bucket
list experiences. They don’t just want to
50 Cruise Industry News: 2019 Expedition Market Report
Herve Bellaiche,
executive vice president of sales
sightsee or ‘sight do.’ They literally want joining four slightly-larger Boreal-class
to become the destination and go through
that transformation. The best way to do
that is in a ship that is small and places
the destination higher and above all
other things.”
And that is what Ponant is delivering
as it expands the fleet with six new Ex-
plorer-class ships at 184 guests each,
ships as well as Le Ponant, the company’s
flagship sailing vessel, and a 270-guest
LNG-fueled icebreaker, Le Commandant
Charcot, set to debut in 2021.
Edie Rodriguez joined the brand in
late 2017 as Americas brand chairman
and corporate special advisor.
“Edie has brought more brand aware-
ness,” Bellaiche told Cruise Industry
News. Rodriguez said all the ingredients
were in place for Ponant’s success, from
robust ownership to small luxury vessels.
“We are a French brand experience,
make no mistake about it,” Rodriguez
said, at a press conference. “We have
evolved. You don’t get to 40 percent of
the guests (from the United States) with-
out the ability to deliver an interna-
tional brand experience.
“The reality is if you are an English-
speaking guest that is not bilingual you
can feel very comfortable on Ponant …
We are a French brand but we offer an
international standard of luxury.”