Skift Take
A significant marketing agreement with Disney’s National Geographic brand, combined with record earnings and revenue, could lead Lindblad Expeditions towards potential acquisition opportunities.
Lindblad Expeditions provided more detail Wednesday on an expanded marketing partnership with Disney to enhance the sales of luxury river and ocean cruises.
When Lindblad announced in November it had expanded its marketing partnership with Disney’s National Geographic brand, it outlined three new market opportunities: Disney using its sales channels to promote the co-branded trips; support for expanding the number and size of ships that Lindblad sails; and assistance from Disney in creating immersive storytelling for customers and travelers.
During an earnings call on Wednesday, executives highlighted the potential benefits of increased marketing efforts.
Sven-Olof Lindblad, founder and CEO, stated that Disney will utilize its own sales channels and marketing for promoting National Geographic branded cruises for the first time. This partnership will allow Lindblad Expeditions to expand the branded tours globally and not just limit them to audiences in the U.S. and Europe.
The partnership is expected to help Lindblad maximize the occupancy of its current fleet and reduce customer acquisition costs, according to executives.
These discussions come as Lindblad achieved several company records last year, serving more guests (30,000) than in any previous year, generating record revenue of $570 million, and producing a record EBITDA of $71 million.
Tighter marketing coordination, more selling
Over the past two decades, Lindblad Expeditions has sold trips and National Geographic had its own sales channel, each with different financial mechanisms and strategies.
“That has been completely eliminated,” Lindblad said. “So we’re all pulling in absolutely the same direction. None of us care where which channel the business comes from.”
“Lindblad’s and Disney’s teams are meeting regularly month-to-month on a disciplined basis for an extended period of time to develop strategies and tactics. The engagement between the organizations has just been hugely cooperative.”
Fleet expansion
The deal will also allow Lindblad to feel confident in expanding its fleet, which has already grown by 60% since 2016.
“Disney, National Geographic, and Lindblad … the power of that combination will likely accelerate our commitment to acquiring new vessels, whether existing vessels or new builds,” Lindblad said.
The agreement gives Lindblad the option to expand the ships offered to customers in the U.S. and Canada to ships with a guest capacity of up to 530 passengers, compared to the current 295-passenger limit.
Executives noted that financing for new ships will be easier to obtain and justify due to the promise of the deal.
Stronger tech game and sales team
Lindblad Expeditions emphasized that it had enhanced its technology and increased the size of its sales team to capitalize on the expected surge in business.
“In many ways, 2023 was a year of transition on this front as we launched our new reservation system, the final building block in our multi-year, digital stack transformation, which also included a new CRM [customer relationship management system], a new connect management system, a new digital asset management system, and a new customer data platform,” said Lindblad, the CEO.
“We are already seeing record bookings coming through our website,” he added. “We are achieving higher conversion rates across all parts of the funnel, and we are delivering stronger guest service metrics at our contact center.”
“With an expanded sales team and upgraded digital lead generation capabilities, we have been focusing on driving first-timer bookings through elevated search campaigns to capture and convert more prospects than ever before,” he concluded.
