The Global Experiences and Transportation Leader introduces City Experiences, the new brand name for the company’s growing portfolio of world-class water- and land-based offerings
New York, NY (April 6, 2021) – Hornblower Group, a global leader in world-class experiences and transportation, announced today the launch of City Experiences, the new brand name for the company’s water- and land-based portfolio of offerings. City Experiences represents a diverse portfolio of experiences in major travel destinations worldwide and aligns more than 25 existing brands into a single brand identity, offering locals and tourists alike a broad range of global experiences.
“To support our growing portfolio of world-class water and land-based offerings, we are thrilled to introduce City Experiences to the world as we continue building upon our heritage as experience providers,” said Kevin Rabbitt, chief executive officer, Hornblower Group. “Enabled by technological investments, diversified operations and a single brand identity, we will continue to explore various opportunities and platforms to add to our portfolio of business that will contribute to the company’s growth and future success.”
The City Experiences new business introduction streamlines a portfolio of 25+ renowned brands into three distinct experience offerings:
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City Cruises – private events, dining cruises, and water sightseeing. Beloved brands that now fall under the City Cruises umbrella include:
- Alcatraz Cruises
- Boston Harbor Cruises
- City Cruises in the UK
- Gananoque Boat Line
- Hornblower Cruises & Events
- Niagara Cruises
- Potomac Riverboat Company
- Spirit Cruises and Odyssey Cruises
- Statue Cruises
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City Cruises – private events, dining cruises, and water sightseeing. Beloved brands that now fall under the City Cruises umbrella include:
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- City Ferry – transportation services across inland and coastal waterways.
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- City Experiences – land-based experiences including shore excursions, partner-offered experiences, city tours and multi-port packages.
To expand its land-based experiences portfolio, City Experiences also announces the acquisition of Walks, a leading sightseeing tours and activities operator operating one-of-a-kind travel experiences in top tourism destinations around the world. With 100+ unique tours available
across 14 cities, including Rome, Venice, Paris and NYC, Walks creates the opportunity for travelers to explore cities at street-level, hear stories from local experts, and uncover a place’s unique history. Walks also began offering virtual tours last year known as Tours from Home, receiving widespread recognition.
Through this acquisition, Walks joins City Experiences’ growing portfolio of land-based experience companies—which includes Cruising Excursions and ShoreTrips, leading global shore excursions providers in the UK and U.S. respectively—and supports the company’s overall business strategy towards growing its product offerings for its guests.
City Experiences also works with local travel partners to offer curated discount packages for guests. Powered by AnchorTM, Hornblower Group’s proprietary ticketing system, the most recent initiative is the Official Downtown Experience which brings together access to three iconic New York City attractions—Statue Cruises, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and One World Observatory—providing more time to experience favorite attractions through specified reservations and live ticketing.
“Creating a single brand identity allows us a greater connection between our land and water experiences, focused marketing and sales efforts, increased guest recognition of our collective City Experiences offerings, and ultimately easier cross-selling of our portfolio within cities and between global destination markets,” said Kristina Heney, City Experiences chief marketing and revenue officer. “Further, our investment in our intuitive booking platform, Anchor, and a holistic end-to-end digital experience will provide an enhanced guest experience with a new frictionless and personalized journey that will further reinforce our brand promise.”
Outside of the City Experiences portfolio, Hornblower Group will continue to operate an Overnight Cruise Division—featuring American Queen Steamboat Company, Victory Cruise Lines and Shore Excursions of America—NYC Ferry and Puerto Rico Ferry systems, other Government transportation services, and our Anchor ticketing services for third-party vendors.
Hornblower Group includes a portfolio of brands spanning a rich 100-year history of creating extraordinary and memorable guest experiences. Today, the company’s footprint spans 111 countries and territories, and 125 U.S. cities, with more than 17 million guests served annually across offerings including water and land-based experiences, overnight cruise experiences, and ferry and transportation services.
For more information visit https://www.cityexperiences.com/.
Please click the below links for City Experiences B-roll material:
YouTube: CLICK HERE
Download: CLICK HERE
About City Experiences
City Experiences represents Hornblower Group’s expansive portfolio of water- and land-based experiences and includes two sub-brands: City Cruises and City Ferry. City Cruises operates dining, sightseeing and private events across 22 destinations in the U.S., Canada and the UK. City Cruises also operates cruises on behalf of the National Park Service and the Niagara Parks Commission and currently holds service contracts to provide ferry service to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, Alcatraz Island and Niagara Falls. City Ferry offers specialized knowledge and expertise required to transport passengers, vehicles and other cargo safely across inland and coastal waterways with operations including NYC Ferry and Puerto Rico ferry system, among others. City Experiences’ portfolio also offers a range of land-based experiences including shore excursions, partner-
offered experiences, multi-port packages, and Cruising Excursions, ShoreTrips and Walks products. For more information visit cityexperiences.com.
About Hornblower Group
Hornblower Group is a global leader in world-class experiences. The corporate entity of Hornblower Group is comprised of American Queen™ Steamboat Company and City Experiences. Seaward Services, Inc., a marine services company specializing in the operation, maintenance and repair of government and privately owned vessels, is also a subsidiary of Hornblower Group, operating and maintaining U.S. Navy Ranges and port facilities, including local oil spill response. Today, Hornblower’s footprint spans 111 countries and territories, and 125 U.S. cities, with offerings including water-based experiences, land-based experiences, overnight cruise experiences, and ferry and transportation services. Hornblower Group is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional corporate offices in Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; London, United Kingdom; New Albany, Indiana; New York, New York; and across Ontario, Canada.
About SafeCruise by City Cruises
Established over 25 years ago, SafeCruise by City Cruises delivers industry-defining standards for health, safety and security across all of our City Cruises operations. Continuously improving, the program follows the most up to date government and industry guidelines and applies decades-long operational expertise to ensure a safe environment for guests and crew members, while maintaining City Experiences’ excellent record of safety. For more information visit cityexperiences.com/safecruise/.
Press Contact:
Michael DeiCas / [email protected]