date published: Jun 15, 2025 content type: Corporate
branded content
Aquila Centre for Cruise Excellence
How a Corporate Documentary Revealed a Global Industry Leader Its Own Community Barely Knew
How We Helped
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Aquila: Defining Excellence, a corporate documentary about a humble Saint John company that had quietly become a global force, brought an extraordinary success story home.
Why This Mattered
Aquila and its founder, Beth Kelly Hatt, had almost single-handedly transformed Atlantic Canada into a leading destination for cruise ship tourism.
By 2016, the company had become New Brunswick's top tour operator and the world's foremost provider of tour guide training to the cruise industry. It was so well regarded globally that executives at Carnival, the world's biggest cruise brand, called Aquila the best tour operator on the planet.
But in Saint John, almost no one knew it.
As Aquila's 35th anniversary approached, that gap had become impossible to ignore. Beth was walking through her own city virtually anonymously, her company's extraordinary global achievement hidden behind the modesty that had always defined it.
Aquila needed to tell its story, but how could a company built on humility make a big noise about its success and remain true to its roots?
The answer was Hemmings House, a documentary production company with a reputation for helping organizations convey their purpose in ways that feel genuine rather than promotional.
The Spark
Aquila is a locally-based, people-driven business that became an international leader through its focus on sharing authentic experiences. Its founders wanted a partner who could tell their story in a way that felt intimate, authentic and persuasive, not promotional.
That commitment to purpose ran deep. Years earlier, Beth had read Jim Collins' bestseller Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't, bought eight copies and handed them to her team.
“It's about finding out what an organization is really passionate about, what they really want to do,” Beth recalls. “This resonated with us, and cruise became what we wanted to specialize in and our goal became to ‘Aquilify’ operations worldwide.”
That same instinct drew Aquila to Hemmings House, whose films didn't just document impact, they fostered it.
The Approach
Aquila’s preferred approach with the film was to start with the people who had made their company a global enterprise, letting them express their vision and values in a compelling way.
“We were trying to give people a really good overview of who we are, what we believe, and why we are committed to excellence and tell it in a human and engaging way,” Danielle says.
“Anyone can hire a videographer. We were looking for a production with impact. Working with Hemmings House was about collaboration and working together to tell a story, and that's what made the crucial difference,” she says. “It isn’t PR. It’s who we are.”
It's about finding out what an organization is really passionate about, what they really want to do.”
Turning Story into Momentum
The film's release gave Aquila something it had never had before: a single, cohesive story it could share with the world.
The timing mattered. A decade earlier, cruise industry executives had approached Aquila with an opportunity that would change everything.
"They came to us and said, 'You're doing things really right. There are so many places that need your help.
Would you consider taking your model and helping others?'" partner Melanie Colpitts recalls.
Aquila said yes. But without a way to tell that story compellingly to new markets, the global training operation remained largely invisible at home. The film changed that.
The Impact
Aquila: Defining Excellence captured the full scope of what Aquila had built, linking its shore excursion operations in Atlantic Canada with its record of delivering positive experiences for travellers worldwide. For the first time, both audiences could see the whole picture.
The impact has continued to grow ever since.
Aquila has helped train tour operators in more than 140 destinations worldwide. Its 10 global trainers educate more than 1,500 operators each year, impacting more than five million visitors. On the shore excursion side, Aquila guides more than 60,000 cruise visitors in locations around New Brunswick.
Aquila guides more than 60,000 cruise visitors in locations around New Brunswick.
The Story Behind the Story
The film brought home the magnitude of Aquila's achievement and the humble core of its success: a company that had carried itself through some of the most trying times in international travel, from the Gulf War and 9/11 to the COVID pandemic. There were challenges, particularly in the mid-1990s, when the industry was changing. They changed how they operated and came out the other side.
"The film shows one of the most important things about Aquila, which is that we really care about our clients and our guests," Danielle says. "We're trying to figure out what they need the most and help them achieve that so they can be successful. It's the same on our tour operation side. We're trying to give everybody the best day they can have."
Why it Worked
Aquila had two distinct audiences that barely knew each other existed. Local communities knew the tour guides but not the global training operation. International clients knew the trainers but not the shore excursion business. A brochure or website could speak to one or the other. A documentary could speak to both at once.
This film was the first of several partnerships, and Danielle credits Hemmings House with helping them Aquilify the world.
"We get a real sense of people when we meet them," Danielle says, "and the films Hemmings House creates are as close as you can get to that. Film is such a great medium for getting glimpses into who people really are and what's really happening."
