LUXURY small-ship expedition cruise line Atlas Ocean Voyages is planning to open an Australian office and base a ship locally, as revealed by travelBulletin’s sister title Cruise Weekly.
President and chief executive officer James Rodriguez, speaking exclusively to CW, said Atlas is currently ironing out the final details of a local headquarters and home ported ship.
“We’re actually looking at it now, we’re in the process of determining how fast we can do it,” Rodriguez said of Atlas’ upcoming office.
Although Rodriguez did not offer a timeline for the local bureau’s opening, he left no doubt Atlas will soon boast a physical presence Down Under.
“It’s a foregone conclusion that we are going to do it, it’s just a matter of when.”
Rodriguez explained Atlas had already hoped to be sailing in Australia by now, but that logistics and fleet size had thus far prevented a local program from being realised.
This issue is particularly acute, as Atlas’ core business is its Antarctica season.
“We hope to have a vessel there in Australia, the South Pacific, in that area of the world,” he said.
“We’re trying to figure out logistically how to get a vessel over there and back in time for the Antarctica season.”
“We have looked at the Kimberley, because we would love to have already gone there, but our current yachts are in Antarctica between Nov and Mar,” Rodriguez explained.
Atlas’ urgency to expand in Australia comes as the market is currently the fastest growing for the cruise line.
“This style of the current vessels we have and our style of cruising really resonate with the Australian market,” Rodriguez told Cruise Weekly.
“This kind of relaxed luxury is not intrusive, it’s not pretentious, it really resonates.”
