River Cruising NEWS UPDATES
Slick and Sharp With 24 new river cruise ships on the order books this year
Viking
there is plenty for agents to get excited about. Plus, river cruising is attracting ever-younger guests who are spending an average £1495pp. Maria Harding rounds up the latest news
Viking River Cruises smashes new-launch record…
GROWTH-HUNGRY Viking River Cruises has made 2014 a record-smashing year for new launches by inaugurating a whopping 16 new Viking Longships within 24 hours. At separate events in March, nine new vessels were christened
in
Amsterdam, four in Rostock and three in Avignon, leaving Viking with a Guinness World Record
for ‘The Most Ships
Inaugurated in One Day by One Company’ - a record it originally set last year (2013) by naming 10 new river ships in one day. And
with two more subsequently
launched in Portugal, Viking’s final tally of new vessel launches in March 2014 was 18 over a five-day period.
PAUL Sharp of the River Cruise Line made a slick and focused presentation at the CLIA Selling Cruise Conference in Southampton last month on behalf of the river cruising sector. These are some of the highlights and figures from his session: • The UK river cruise market is worth £195 million
• 132,000 passengers took a river cruise in 2013
• The demand for river cruise is showing a 22% year-on-year increase
• An amazing 27 new ships were added to the European fleet in 2013
IN BRIEF Increasing
inclusivity: All Leisure
Group's cruise brands, Travelsphere, Swan Hellenic and Hebridean River Cruises are now in one brochure and include drinks with dinner and two complimentary excursions. Saga has also increased inclusivity with drinks and/or two free excursions offered on selected 2014 sailings.
allleisuregroup.com
• The new generation of river cruise ships cater for all types of passenger expectations and budgets
• The Rhine, Danube and Moselle currently account for 52% of UK river cruise sales.
• Other rivers showing increased growth are the Rhone and Seine with 38% increase in passengers in 2013.
RETURN TO AMSTERDAM The fourth CLIA UK & Ireland River Cruise Convention returns to Amsterdam this autumn on Sunday 16 and Monday 17 November 2014.
Fred. Olsen options: Braemar options
now include a 14-night Spanish Cities cruise from Harwich to Huelva, Malaga, Alicante, Seville and Vigo. This departs April 18, 2015 priced from £1,499pp. An eight-night French Rivers sailing from Dover (August 1, 2015) will sail the Loire to Nantes and the Garonne to Bordeaux, from £899pp.
fredolsencruises.com
Seconds for Titan: Titan's second- edition 2014/15 Escorted River Cruise brochure covers fully-escorted and Uniworld cruises on the waterways of Russia, China, Egypt and South America. Prices start at £1,025pp for Rhine and Moselle cruises and highlights include a 13-day Amazon Adventure from £2,895pp.(no flights).
titantravel.co.uk
Uniworld innovation: Uniworld has launched the SS Catherine, a new riverboat operating eight-day ‘Burgundy & Provence’ sailings along the Rhône and Saône rivers between Lyon and Avignon. It offers all-inclusive prices on its European cruises this year with prices now including gratuities, unlimited non- premium drinks and wifi.
titantravel.co.uk
The new Viking ships will be deployed throughout Europe and – for the first time this year - in France, where new itineraries include `Châteaux, Rivers & Wine’ cruises through Bordeaux. With its river cruise fleet expanded to
54 vessels by the end of this year, Viking has pushed for major growth in 2015 with an early-booking discount of up to £1,000pp and increased support for the UK travel trade. “We are giving agents even greater support
this year through increased
training, more fam trips and a dedicated agent sales person in our expanded UK call centre,” says head of sales Neil Barclay.
vikingrivercruises.co.uk
www.sellinglonghaul.com
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