NEW YORK, Aug. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lindblad
Expeditions Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LIND; the "Company" or
"Lindblad"), a global provider of expedition cruises and adventure
travel experiences, announced today that it has expanded its
agreement with National Geographic Partners ("National Geographic")
to include all of the Americas.
The relationship between Lindblad and National Geographic,
founded in 2004 and steeped in a shared interest in exploration,
research, technology and conservation, includes co-selling,
co-marketing and branding arrangements that run through 2025.
With the addition of the Canada
and Latin America markets to the
existing agreement covering the United
States, Australia and
New Zealand, Lindblad and National
Geographic have further deepened their long-term strategic
partnership and will collectively invest to further accelerate
growth in these important geographies.
The United States has long been
the primary source market for Lindblad, and with the rapidly
accelerating demand for authentic and immersive experiential travel
the Company certainly expects significant domestic growth for years
to come. At the same time, many of the trends powering the
increase in expedition travel in the
United States are manifesting themselves globally as well,
and deepening expansion into select international markets is a core
part of Lindblad's growth strategy.
The expanded collaboration with National Geographic provides an
opportunity for Lindblad and National Geographic to leverage the
strong brand position National Geographic holds in Canada and key Latin American markets, while
at the same time building upon Lindblad's long-established
leadership position in the United
States expedition travel market.
Given the accelerating demand for high quality and authentic
expedition travel and the expanded agreement with National
Geographic, Lindblad's Board of Directors recently approved the
build of an additional blue water vessel to explore the world's
most unique and remote locations. This state of the art
vessel, which is anticipated to be delivered in 2021, will be the
next step in the Company's fleet expansion following the launch of
the National Geographic Quest in July
2017, the addition of the National Geographic Venture
to the fleet in December 2018 and the
delivery of the National Geographic Endurance in the first
quarter of 2020.
Sven-Olof Lindblad, President and
Chief Executive Officer, said, "Lindblad has been a pioneer in
expedition travel for fifty years. By extending our
successful partnership with National Geographic, energizing new
markets and expanding our fleet, we are taking the next steps in
our long-term growth strategy. Our experience and track
record in delivering unparalleled experiences in the world's most
amazing locations ideally positions us to capitalize on the
explosive growth in high quality adventure travel."
"National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions have, over the
past 14 years, found an extraordinary level of common cause. This
manifests itself in knowing the importance of people exploring the
world, building understanding and becoming more knowledgeable and
energized citizens," says Gary E.
Knell, CEO of National Geographic Partners. "Our
collaboration goes far beyond business, into education,
conservation and storytelling through expedition travel. We
know collectively that our partnership's goal is to consistently
grow the number of people who explore our world and that's why
we're so excited to expand our partnership to include the Canadian
and Latin American markets."
About Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc.
Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc. is an expedition travel
company that focuses on ship-based voyages through its Lindblad
Expeditions brand and on land-based travel through its subsidiary,
Natural Habitat Adventures, an adventure travel and ecotourism
company with a focus on responsible nature travel.
Lindblad Expeditions works in partnership with National
Geographic to inspire people to explore and care about the planet.
The organizations work in tandem to produce innovative marine
expedition programs and to promote conservation and sustainable
tourism around the world. The partnership's educationally oriented
voyages allow guests to interact with and learn from leading
scientists, naturalists and researchers while discovering stunning
natural environments, above and below the sea, through
state-of-the-art exploration tools.
Natural Habitat partners with the World Wildlife Fund to offer
and promote conservation and sustainable travel that directly
protects nature. Natural Habitat's adventures include polar bear
tours in Churchill, Canada,
Alaskan grizzly bear adventures and African safaris.
For more information visit www.expeditions.com or find us on
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
About National Geographic Partners LLC
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between
National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing
the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across
an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global
National Geographic television channels (National Geographic
Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National
Geographic's media and consumer-oriented assets, including National
Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital
and social media platforms; books; maps; children's media; and
ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and
events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses.
Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the
core purpose of National Geographic for 130 years, and now we are
committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for
our consumers … and reaching millions of people around the world in
172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP returns
27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic
Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration,
conservation and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com
or nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release are
"forward-looking statements" intended to qualify for the safe
harbor from liability established by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements
include the Company's financial projections and may also generally
be identified as such because the context of such statements will
include words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict,"
"project," "should," "will," "would" or words of similar import.
Similarly, statements that describe the Company's financial
guidance or future plans, objectives or goals are also
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause results
to differ materially from those expected, including, but not
limited to, the following: (i) changes adversely affecting the
business in which the Company is engaged; (ii) management of the
Company's growth and its ability to execute on its planned growth;
(iii) general economic conditions; (iv) the Company's business
strategy and plans; (v) unscheduled disruptions in our business due
to weather events, mechanical failures, or other events; (vi)
compliance with laws and regulations; (vii) compliance with the
financial and/or operating covenants in the Company's credit
agreements; (viii) adverse publicity regarding the cruise industry
in general; (ix) loss of business due to competition; (x) the
result of future financing efforts; (xi) the inability to meet
revenue and Adjusted EBITDA projections; (xii) delays and costs
overruns with respect to the construction and delivery of newly
constructed vessels; and (xiii) those risks described in the
Company's filings with the SEC. Stockholders, potential investors
and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in
evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements made herein are made only as of the date
of this press release and the Company undertakes no obligation to
publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise. More detailed
information about factors that may affect the Company's performance
may be found in its filings with the SEC, which are available at
http://www.sec.gov or at http://www.expeditions.com in the Investor
Relations section of the Company's website.
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SOURCE Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc.