Hurtigruten, the leader in iconic Norwegian coastal voyages and tours, is rounding out 2025 with the appointment of two new key account managers for the Asia-Pacific region, Lauren Zischke and Rebecca Setchell, bolstering the company’s sales team to support agents and meet traveller demand in 2026.
With a combined 42 years of experience in the travel and tourism space, Zischke and Setchell will bring their deep industry knowledge to drive Hurtigruten’s growth in the region. Their focus will be on the development and supervision of new and existing relationships with travel agents, to ultimately boost sales and accelerate revenue.
Zischke and Setchell have both been recognised by the NTIA for their contributions to the travel and tourism industry and will apply their knowledge and experience to sell and promote Hurtigruten’s suite of products.
“We have seen outstanding growth in 2025 under the new independent and focused model for Hurtigruten, including product expansion across our comprehensive, owned Svalbard operation, expanded Nordic tour program, premium all inclusive Signature cruise range with a doubling of capacity in 2026, as well as continued growth on our core Coastal program. We are investing in our team to build a strong, talented and proactive taskforce to meet the market demand and deliver best in class service and support to our industry partners,” said Damian Perry, APAC Managing Director at Hurtigruten
Before her position at Hurtigruten, Lauren Zischke held several senior business development and relationship management roles with TAG, Wyndham Destinations and most recently APT Travel Group. With a passion for education and a track record of delivering above targets, Lauren is excited to champion the Hurtigruten business.
Rebecca Setchell brings a wealth of experience from the corporate, luxury and leisure sectors, with previous roles including positions at AAT Kings and Bunnik Tours. Driving sales success and strategic partnerships both domestically and overseas, Rebecca is renowned for her leadership skills, innovative approach and strong network.
The latest appointments underscore a pivotal year of growth and realignment for Hurtigruten following its move to full independence to focus on the one and only iconic 133-year-old Norwegian operation servicing global travellers with in-depth and unmatched Nordic tours and cruises.
Hurtigruten is celebrating a number of highlights as the company moves into 2026, including its first wholly sustainable bio-fuel cruise, which completed a 5,000km round trip along Norway’s coastline – a significant step and key milestone towards Hurtigruten’s plan to reach its zero-emissions goals.
The investment in the business development team demonstrates Hurtigruten’s commitment to expanding over the coming year, with more roles to be announced soon.
