What Fred. Olsen Travel does

Fred. Olsen Travel AS is a privately held Norwegian specialty travel agency established in 1949, operating from a single retail storefront at Fred. Olsens gate 2 in Oslo inside a listed 1710 building, with a staff of approximately five to six dedicated consultants. The firm sells cruise packages — primarily Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines sailings aboard Balmoral, Borealis and Bolette, supplemented by Havila, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Star Clippers — alongside corporate and marine business travel bookings executed through the Amadeus GDS. Its third line of business is acting as the exclusive organiser of all shore excursions for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' three ships when they call at Norwegian ports, delivering more than 100 different excursions across 20+ ports each year to predominantly British cruise guests. Long-cruise specialism — including multi-month World Cruises — is the firm's primary differentiator, supported by a 2026 Which? ranking among the top UK high street travel agents.

The technology stack is conventional and dated: the fredolsentravel.no website is built in ColdFusion, uses session cookies, and integrates Google Analytics, Facebook Insights and an FDIH cookie-consent script. No public API, SDK, mobile app, or AI/ML component is offered; digital distribution is limited to a brochure-request web form, an opt-in email newsletter and an interactive Flipsnack catalog. Membership in the Norwegian Travel Guarantee Fund (Reisegarantifondet) and Virke provides statutory consumer protection and trade-body standing.

The business model is primarily transaction-fee commission based: revenue is earned on cruise sales (with per-person package pricing in NOK on double-occupancy cabins, 15–30% deposits and final payment 104 days pre-departure), on business-travel bookings, and on shore-excursion operations tied to the Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines contract. Distribution runs through the Oslo retail storefront (Mon–Fri 08:30–16:00), phone (+47 22 34 11 11), email ([email protected]) and the company's own e-commerce website, with no third-party OTA presence disclosed.

Name

Fred. Olsen Travel

Legal name

Fred. Olsen Travel AS

Website

https://fredolsentravel.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

1949

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Fred. Olsen Travel AS is a privately held Norwegian travel agency founded in 1949, with 5–6 consultants in Oslo selling Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and other cruises, corporate business travel, and acting as the exclusive shore-excursion operator for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' three ships across 20+ Norwegian ports.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Agency Services

NAICS

Travel Agencies (561510), Deep Sea Passenger Transportation (483112)

SIC

Retail-Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (5961)

akta.pro primary industry

Cruise Retail Travel Agencies (THAKABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Expedition Cruise Lines (Polar & Remote Regions) (THAEABAD), Luxury & Expedition Cruise Specialists (THAKAKAE)

Keywords

• Cruise booking services
• World cruise specialist
• Corporate marine travel
• Shore excursion operator
• Scandinavian travel agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Ipswich

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Cruise sales (Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines primary, plus Havila, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Star Clippers): Primary revenue stream: commission-based sales of cruise packages ranging from short cruises to multi-month world cruises; sells primarily Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and other major cruise lines.
2. Business and group travel: Booking of business trips, marine travel, groups, and conferences domestically and internationally; long-standing service since 1949 originally serving Norwegian seamen with tickets worldwide.
3. Cruise excursion operations in Norway: Organizes all excursions for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' three ships when they call at Norwegian ports; over 100 different excursions in over 20 ports per year.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Fred. Olsen Travel is a Norwegian travel agency that sells cruise holidays worldwide (with deep specialisation in Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines itineraries including long-duration world cruises, plus selected sales of Havila, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Star Clippers), books corporate and marine business travel, and operates the exclusive shore-excursion programme for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' three ships in Norwegian ports (over 100 excursions across 20+ ports annually). The agency distributes via a single Oslo retail storefront, phone/email booking, and the fredolsentravel.no website.

Product overview

Fred. Olsen Travel is a single unified travel-agency product suite rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Established in 1949 and operating from Fred. Olsens gate 2 in Oslo with 5 dedicated staff, the company delivers its offering through four interrelated service lines: (1) Cruise Booking Services — primarily Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines sailings across three partner-operated ships (Balmoral, Borealis and Bolette), with selected inventory from Havila, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Star Clippers; (2) named long-cruise itinerary products (Mediterranean Cruise 2026, Caribbean Christmas Cruise 2026, World Cruise 2027, Baltic Cruise from Oslo 2027) sold primarily through the agency's website and 2026-2027 brochure; (3) Business Travel Services for corporate and marine clients using Amadeus for flight bookings; and (4) Cruise Excursions in Norway, the agency's shore-excursion operation handling 100+ excursions in 20+ Norwegian ports annually for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' three ships. The named cruise itineraries (Mediterranean 2026, Caribbean 2026, World Cruise 2027, Baltic 2027) are sold on the Balmoral, Borealis and Bolette hulls; World Cruise and long-cruise specialism is the agency's primary differentiator.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cruise Booking Services Core agency offering — booking of cruises worldwide, with primary specialisation in Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines sailings (including the specialist World Cruise segment) and selected sales of Havila, MSC, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Star Clippers itineraries. For Norwegian consumers and corporate clients.
• Business Travel Services Corporate and marine business travel bookings (Forretningsreiser) for small and large companies, including flights (booked via Amadeus), hotels, groups, and course/conference arrangements, handled by dedicated consultants.
• Cruise Excursions in Norway Shore excursion operation organising all excursions for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' three ships in Norwegian ports, delivering over 100 different excursions across 20+ ports annually, focused on Norwegian fjord, mountain, Northern Lights and midnight sun experiences for primarily British guests.
• Mediterranean Cruise 2026 (71 nights) 71-night Mediterranean cruise itinerary product departing 30 September 2026 from Southampton aboard Balmoral, sold as a bundled package (flights, hotel night, transfers, gratuities, beverages included).
• Caribbean Christmas & New Year Cruise 2026 (31 nights) 31-night Christmas and New Year Caribbean cruise itinerary product departing 18 December 2026 from Southampton, marketed as a tropical seasonal holiday package.
• World Cruise 2027 (98 nights) 98-night World Cruise (Verdenscruise 2027) itinerary product departing 21 January 2027 from Southampton, with port stops across Asia, the Pacific, North and Central America, and the Caribbean.
• Baltic Cruise from Oslo 2027 (11 nights) 11-night Baltic cruise itinerary product departing 13 September 2027 from Oslo aboard Bolette, visiting Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, and ending in Newcastle, England.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100+ different excursions organized in 20+ Norwegian ports each year for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core and minor.

• Fred. Olsen Cruise Linesflagship / coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFred. Olsen Travel is the primary Norwegian sales channel for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, selling primarily their cruises worldwide. Fred. Olsen Travel is also the exclusive organizer of all excursions for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines' three ships when they call at Norwegian ports (over 100 excursions per year across 20+ ports).
• HavilaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOne of the cruise lines Fred. Olsen Travel sells in addition to Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines; extends the agency's product range.
• MSC CruisesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOne of the cruise lines Fred. Olsen Travel resells as part of its broader cruise offering.
• Royal CaribbeanminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOne of the cruise lines Fred. Olsen Travel resells as part of its broader cruise offering.
• Celebrity CruisesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOne of the cruise lines Fred. Olsen Travel resells as part of its broader cruise offering.
• Star ClippersminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSailings on Star Clippers tall ships are sold by Fred. Olsen Travel.
• Reisegarantifondet (Norwegian Travel Guarantee Fund)minorOthersFred. Olsen Travel is a member of the Norwegian Travel Guarantee Fund (Reisegarantifondet) and has posted the required guarantee; provides statutory financial protection for package travel customers.
• VirkeminorOthersFred. Olsen Travel is a member of Virke, the Norwegian Enterprise Federation; trade body whose general package travel conditions the agency adopts.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Miles Morgan Travel: UK high street travel agency placing in the Which? 2026 ranking immediately above Fred. Olsen Travel. Directly comparable as a multi-branch, high-touch UK leisure and cruise retailer.
• Trailfinders: UK-headquartered independent high street and online travel agency ranked #1 by Which? in the same 2026 UK high-street travel-agent survey in which Fred. Olsen Travel placed jointly in the top tier. Directly comparable business model: high-touch, multi-destination leisure and cruise booking with a long-tenured consultant base.
• Hays Travel: Large UK high street travel agency chain that, per Which? 2026, was jointly ranked with Fred. Olsen Travel among the top UK high street travel agents. Same channel mix (physical branches, phone, digital) and same customer demographic of UK/European holidaymakers including cruise.
• Co-op Travel: UK high street travel agency network ranked jointly with Fred. Olsen Travel in the Which? 2026 top tier. Comparable as a multi-branch UK high street agent selling package holidays, cruises, and tailor-made trips to similar customer segments.
• Althams Travel: UK high street travel agency also ranked in the Which? 2026 top tier just above Fred. Olsen Travel. Same high-street, multi-supplier agency model selling cruises, packages and tailor-made holidays to UK consumers.
• Iglu Cruise: UK-based specialist cruise agency selling multi-line cruise inventory (including Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity) online and by phone. Directly comparable as a cruise-focused agency addressing the same Norwegian and UK cruise customer, though primarily digital rather than high-street.

Regional players

• Berg-Hansen: Leading Norwegian-headquartered corporate and leisure travel agency owned by Norwegian Air Shuttle. Comparable as a Norwegian-domiciled travel agency serving both business and leisure travellers, but operates at materially larger scale and is primarily corporate-travel focused.
• Ticket Travel: Major Norwegian multi-brand leisure travel agency retail chain. Comparable as a Norwegian-domestic travel retailer selling package holidays, cruises and flights to Norwegian consumers, but operates through many more branches than Fred. Olsen Travel's single Oslo storefront.

Emerging players

• Cruise Nation: UK-based cruise-specialist online agency reselling multiple major cruise lines. Comparable as a multi-line cruise reseller targeting the same value-conscious UK and European cruise customer, but with an online-only model versus Fred. Olsen Travel's high-touch agency model.

Others

• Star Clippers: Direct supplier/partner cruise line whose sailings Fred. Olsen Travel resells. Included as an ecosystem/partner peer because the commercial relationship is reciprocal and Star Clippers' tall-ship cruises are a distinctive part of Fred. Olsen Travel's product range.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fred. Olsen Travel