Hurtigruten has appointed William Harber as President for the Americas, based in its Seattle regional headquarters.

He will relocate from Hong Kong and be responsible for Hurtigruten’s commercial growth strategy in collaboration with the company’s senior leadership team.

“Building on nearly 125 years of Norwegian polar pioneering know-how and history, Hurtigruten is revolutionizing the global adventure travel industry through new state-of-the-art hybrid expedition vessels and trailblazing itineraries. We are strongly committed to offering the Americas the world’s safest, greenest and most adventurous expedition voyages. I am confident William Harber is the right person to establish our premium offering as a first choice of adventure travel for the modern American explorer,” noted Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam.

For Hurtigruten, Harber is charged with driving sales and profitability across the U.S., Canada, Central and South America, according to the company. 

He will broaden and deepen key travel agent relationships and open new channels for growth. 

“I’m honored Hurtigruten has tapped me for this position and trust the many experiences I’ve gained in Asia and in my career in the cruise industry will serve me well in the role. It’s an exciting opportunity for growth at such an authentic and storied brand,” added William Harber, Hurtigruten President for the Americas. Harber’s successor in Asia-Pacific will be named after a brief transition period.

Harber has over 20 years of experience, including 13 in the cruise industry. He was most recently Hurtigruten’s President for China & Asia-Pacific, successfully establishing the company’s regional headquarters and GSA set-up and striking a strategic partnership with Fliggy, Alibaba’s travel brand. He has served as Sr. Vice President & MD Asia for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and as Vice President, Market Development for Carnival Asia. In 2011, Harber was promoted to Vice President, Carnival Corporate Marketing, working globally across their 10 cruise brands. Harber originally joined Carnival’s Miami, FL headquarters in 2004 as a member of the Shared Services team.

Earlier in his career, Harber was a management consultant at A.T. Kearney and Director of Product Marketing for a technology start-up. He earned his MBA in Marketing Strategy from Emory’s Goizueta Business School and graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a bachelor of Industrial & Systems Engineering.

Harber succeeds Gordon Dirker who opened Hurtigruten’s Americas headquarters in Seattle, WA and set the groundwork to further expand the brand.