The Hurtigruten Group lost 243.3 million euros in 2023, which is around 2.8 billion kroner. The company wrote this in a stock exchange announcement on Friday. And in the fourth quarter alone they lost NOK 1.25 billion. These numbers are darker than ever before, according to experts. Odd Roar Lange is a travel expert who has been writing about travel for 30 years. He says that it is typical of Norwegian tourism that there is a lot of positivity. – But if you look at them on the map, almost no one is making money, he believes. According to him, it is particularly clear with the traditional Hurtigruten. – The travel industry always says that it will go well next year. Fascinatingly enough, I believe it almost every year. But I probably have the most faith in the café owner on the corner, says tourism expert Odd Roar Lange. Photo: The Travel Inspector – Glad I don’t have a cup of coffee on Hurtigruten – Financially, I’m glad I don’t have a cup of coffee on Hurtigruten, he says. Why? Because it is very expensive to run coastal traffic, says Lange. Especially with the number of ships Hurtigruten has. – In addition, they must enter all ports every day. It is very nice for Norway, especially for the coastal communities and tourists, but it is very expensive. The tourism expert believes that Hurtigruta is more important for people in the far north of the country than in the far south. In the North, Hurtigruta is important for both passenger traffic and the shipping of goods. Photo: GERAULT Gregory / hemis.fr / Hemis – The question is how he will be operated. Should the owners continue to invest more money, or can one imagine that Hurtigruten will not last forever? asks Lange. The tourism expert therefore believes that this could mean that there are too many daily ships along the entire coast. – It is a crisis if they bleed money for every time they throw away. It is difficult to see what one can do with it. Although the express route ticket is already expensive, Lange believes that it should actually have been more expensive. – If you were to pay what it actually costs, no one can pay for what a ticket actually costs, he says. Photo: Atle Markeng / news From Hurtigrute to expedition In March 2018, Havila won tenders for four of the 11 ships that sail along the Norwegian coast. Previously, only Hurtigruten sailed these. Therefore, Hurtigruten had to find something to use four of its ships on. In 2021, the company therefore decided to invest in expedition-based tourism. Part of Hurtigruten therefore moved to London, where they were to try to get hold of the most profitable part of the business. But it hasn’t gone so well. Several of these expedition ships, which were formerly Hurtigruten ships, therefore sail half empty, according to Morten Hostad, editor of Helgelands Blad. Morten Hofstad, editor of Helgelands Blad, says that Havila Kystruten AS has also lost a lot in the first nine months of the year, but that it is more understandable because they had long had problems with shipping new boats. Photo: Private – When you enter the cruise industry, there is fierce competition. They are unable to measure up against the large international cruise owners’ associations that have boats built for this, he says. The editor has followed Hurtigruten for a long time, and has written about the dark stories of the ship in the newspaper’s leader. – Now Hurtigruten has historically bad figures. He points to the fact that the economy has taken a turn for the worse following the government’s strategy of splitting Hurtigruten in two and giving Havila access to four boats. – Now there are two companies competing to lose the least, you could say. Hurtigruten has always been a loss-making project and has never been able to operate purely commercially, he says. – But now I think someone needs to think carefully about what needs to be done. He believes that historical experience shows that it went better when Hurtigruten was united in one crew. – Hurtigruten as a concept is unique. The challenge arises when Hurtigruta is forced to go out on a normal cruise with boats they do not have. Today’s British owners of the expedition part of Havila write that they are looking at “strategic alternatives” for the company. The editor believes that this could mean anything from sales to mergers with other companies. Hurtigruten: – Changes in travel habits are the reason In the whole of 2023, Hrtigruten Group’s turnover is NOK 7.5 billion. This is an increase of 14 per cent from 2022, writes Dagens Næringsliv. In the report linked to the stock market announcement, managing director Daniel Skjeldam writes that the intention has been weaker due to several things. He refers to high entry costs, challenges linked to the ship Maud which was exposed to severe storms and high costs in general due to inflation. In addition, the state buys services from Hurtigruten. This is part of the ten-year contract with the state that started in 2021 and lasts until 2030. – We at Hurtigruten are happy about all the competition that benefits the coast. The total purchase of services last year was in the order of 720 million kroner, says Tarjei Kramviken, press contact at Hurtigruten. Hurtigruten Coastal AS and Havila Kystruten AS are suppliers under the coastal route agreement for 2021–2030. In 2024, remuneration to Hurtigruten and Havila will be NOK 829.6 million and NOK 410.7 million respectively. Photo: Synnøve Sundby Fallmyr / news – Like all other players in tourism and transport, both at sea, on land and in the air, Hurtigruten was also affected by the changes in people’s travel habits that the pandemic brought with it, both here at home and internationally, says Kramviken . He believes that the changes in travel habits are still ongoing and that they are reinforced by a lot of political unrest and economic tough and unstable times all over the world. – In the Hurtigruten Group, we are pleased to have put in place a solution that contributed to better financial flexibility through the supply of new liquidity. – The previous government introduced competition for operations Edvard Andersen, senior adviser in the Communications Unit in the Ministry of Transport, says the economy of the coastal route business is the topic of a contact meeting between the ministry and the operators. – The contracts between the suppliers and the ministry provide that the companies have commercial income in addition to the government remuneration. Without commercial income, the remuneration to the state would be much higher. The Ministry of Transport and Communications purchases sea transport services on the Bergen–Kirkenes stretch to ensure a satisfactory transport offer for passengers traveling locally or regionally from port to port, and freight transport between Tromsø and Kirkenes. Photo: Reuterts He points out that both companies run commercial operations at their own risk. Their finances are not something the ministry decides on unless it has something to say for the coastal route agreements. – What is the idea behind Hurtigruten being split into two companies? – Competition for the operation of the coastal route was introduced by the previous government, which believed that, among other things, this would contribute to a good offer for travelers and that the state must not pay more than necessary for the service. – What does the Norwegian Transport Directorate think about having “forced” Hurtigruten to use its old boats for cruise tourism? – It was Hurtigruten’s decision before entering into the contract which ship would serve the route, says Andersen.
ttn-69
– Crisis if they bleed money for every time they throw away – news Nordland
