The agreement closely follows the delivery of NCLH's first purpose-built China ship, Norwegian Joy.
Together, NCLH and Alibaba aim to make Norwegian the preferred vacation choice among Chinese travelers. The companies will also collaborate to provide Alibaba customers with new and online-to-offline (O2O) experiences at sea across Norwegian's China-based and global fleet.
The NCLH initiative is 'another example of how Alibaba is helping international brands to reach Chinese consumers through our robust data, marketing and technology,' Alibaba Group president Michael Evans said. 'We look forward to further strengthening our collaboration with Norwegian in the future.'
Alibaba operates the world's largest online and mobile marketplaces. It offers a wide range of products and services to its nearly half billion monthly active users. In China, people live, work and play on Alibaba, buying local and overseas products, using its entertainment and lifestyle services including travel, food delivery and social networking.
'Our partnership with Alibaba will combine Norwegian's history of innovation in the cruise industry and our entry into the Chinese cruise market with Norwegian Joy with Alibaba's extensive knowledge of China's consumer base and its unique ecosystem, which continually reaches consumers in new and ever-expanding ways,' NCLH president and ceo Frank Del Rio said.
The Alibaba partnership 'complements our strong existing relationships with our loyal travel agents to provide unmatched insight into what Chinese travelers look for in a vacation experience,' added David Herrera, president, NCLH China.
He said the combination of Norwegian's expertise in delivering memorable vacations, Alibaba's insights into Chinese consumer behavior and travel agents' knowledge of the preferences of Chinese travelers will create a cruise product 'unequaled in China.'
Wells Fargo Securities views the partnership as a positive for NCLH, given it provides the company additional local distribution to reach Chinese consumers, analyst Tim Conder said in a note.
Norwegian Joy's inaugural ceremony is scheduled for June 27 in Shanghai, featuring the ship's godfather, ‘King of Chinese Pop' Wang Leehom.
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