Rob Huffman just joined as VP trade sales after several years with Viking Cruises and, before that, many at Carnival Cruise Line. Rein sees his hiring as 'huge. It will be wonderful support for the trade. He shares the same vision that I do. The dynamic duo will be out there,' she quipped.
In the past year Rein, an ocean-cruise veteran of Carnival, Costa and Renaissance Cruises, has immersed herself in the 'whole different world of river cruising.' In doing so, she's joined the ranks of women executives like Ellen Bettridge and Edie Rodriguez, who've bridged the ocean and river sectors.
'While ocean cruising is near and dear, there's a complexity and challenge to to river cruising,' she said. 'We're bringing the brand to life in the US market.'
Rein's work builds on that of the team that launched Scenic in the US, which created enough demand for the company to open an office at tony One Financial Center in the heart of Boston's Financial District.
Not that Rein spends so much time there. She's out championing the brand. Just last week she addressed the AVENUE Altruism Awards at the United Nations in New York that honored Dr. Sylvia Earle's efforts to preserve the oceans. Rein spoke about the environmental components of Scenic's first ocean-going ship, Scenic Eclipse, debuting next year.
She then zipped to Florida for Travel Weekly's Cruise World, where she introduced Huffman and fielded questions from travel agents during a Think Tank symposium.
A recent partnership with National Geographic Expeditions to brand a line of National Geographic River Cruises was a coup. 'The alignment of our two brands and the co-branding has a nice halo effect for us,' Rein said.
Also new: luxury escorted land tours of Egypt and Jordan, with the Egypt program featuring a five-day Nile sailing. (The Egypt and Jordan trips can also be combined, and an even grander trip begins in Cape Town, South Africa, and visits Africa must-sees like Victoria Falls and Masai Mara before flowing into the Egypt-Jordan combo.)
Scenic has always offered Africa tours but they weren't sold on the US market before, where Rein thinks there's 'pent-up demand for Egypt.'
The orderbook is now bursting with a record 20 ships that fit into the expedition cruise category. Scenic Eclipse will be one of the first out, in August 2018.
Rein described a 'design and engineering marvel' with helicopters, a submarine and 'extraordinary luxury in the expedition space.' Touted as a 'discovery yacht,' Scenic Eclipse will sail widely throughout the Americas, Antarctica, Europe, the Mediterranean, the Arctic and Norwegian Fjords.
The ship, Rein said, is 'for someone who wants to go on the trip of a lifetime.'
Like Scenic's river cruises, its ocean sailings will be 'truly all-inclusive,' bundling in excursions, drinks, gratuities on board and ashore and Wi-Fi.
'On Scenic, we don't even take your credit card,' Rein pointed out. 'Aside from a hair cut or a massage, there's nothing you have to pay for.' (Apart from a fee to ride in the helicopters and submarine on Scenic Eclipse.)
Founded 30 years ago in Australia by Glen Moroney—who stays keenly attuned to the product and customer feedback, and can nimbly make changes, if needed—Scenic has branched out its sourcing as it grew and now Americans comprise 25% of the business. That's expected to go up as Rein focuses on the trade.
Many agents, she said, didn't make the connection between Scenic and its more recently introduced sister brand Emerald Waterways: 'If they were sellers of ultra-luxury [travel], they knew Scenic, but not Emerald. If they were sellers of premium [travel], they knew Emerald, not Scenic.'
In her view, it's a benefit when talking to agents to be able to present multiple products.
Emerald introduced three new vessels this year, bringing its 'Star-Ships' fleet on Europe's rivers to seven, plus it has a smaller vessel on the Mekong. The Scenic brand, meanwhile, markets 15 river vessels to US customers, all built since 2008.
Through Rein and her team's work and the attention generated by the multiple inaugurals, 'there's a lot more awareness.'
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