MIAMI-After just over four months in operation, Norwegian Cruise
Line quietly shut down its on-line consumer booking engine in late
May in preparation for a program that will begin this fall and
emphasize NCL's links to travel agents, said Andy Stuart, senior
vice president of marketing and sales.
Stuart said the decision to shut down the online booking
mechanism was not a matter of expense outweighing revenue. "This
was a strategic decision to support travel agents, and one part of
a program to demonstrate that support," he said.
The fall program will include an agent-training component and "a
major program to demonstrate our strong commitment to the trade,"
said Stuart. "We had a long-term plan in developing our online
booking engine, but we [eventually] decided it wasn't the way to
go," he said.
"The technology is there, but we decided we don't want to take
direct bookings over the Internet."