NEWS IN BRIEF
AmaWaterways promotes Daniels to UK sales chief AmaWaterways has promoted Brooke Daniels to the role of acting UK sales manager. Daniels, who has worked for AmaWaterways’ general sales agent Fred Olsen Travel for the past five years, is replacing Natalie O’Mahoney, who goes on maternity leave next month.
Agents learn more about
the river sector at the Clia trade fair and on visits to seven ships
Clia launches River Cruise Club and online fact sheets
Clia UK & Ireland is introducing a dedicated club and fact sheets to help agents maximise their river cruise sales.
The My Clia River Cruise Club
will feature as a dedicated area on the association’s website. Andy Harmer (pictured),
director of Clia UK & Ireland, said: “Agents will be able to join the club on the website, where there will be a dedicated section pulling together river cruise news, webinars, special offers and in-depth content. “It will be useful for those who
are already selling river cruise and those wanting to start selling for the first time. It will filter all river cruise news and information through to club members. “It’s the first of its kind and we
will be looking to roll it out to other cruise sectors over time.” The club, which launches early
next year, will offer agents access to exclusive offers. Clia is also introducing more fact
sheets to help agents learn about the river cruise experience. Harmer said the additions to
the Toolbox section of the site would help agents “talk about the customer experience”.
“The fact sheets are about key
embarkation ports, nearby airports and the distance to them,” he said. “They will also reflect some of the key attractions along the rivers.” The fact sheets will be live on
Clia’s website by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Clia also launched its agent programme in France this week and will look to roll it out across Europe.
‘Customers are being lost to city breaks’
River cruise lines and travel agents need to do more to win the hearts of customers currently opting to book city breaks. Helen Roberts, retail research director of market insights
company GfK, said recent studies showed agents and cruise companies were missing a key opportunity. “We looked at the booking process and it showed that 42% of those who looked into river cruising ended up booking a city break instead,” she said. “It’s a massive amount of bookings that have been lost to the city-break sector. There is so much opportunity.” Roberts said cruise was particularly successful when it came to
consumers remembering what holiday advertisements they had seen. “When it came to advertising, 35% of customers recall ads from holiday companies. When you segment that further and just look at cruise companies, 67% recall the adverts.”
Uniworld app offers view of Maria Theresa Uniworld has launched a virtual reality app to help agents bring its product, including the Royal Suite and Baroque Restaurant, to life. The app offers a 360-degree view of the Maria Theresa.
CroisiEurope adds Elbe, Mississippi and Amazon CroisiEurope will introduce sailings on the Elbe in 2016, the Mississippi and the Amazon. Voyages on the Elbe will be operated by the line’s Elbe Princesse paddle steamer. The line will also add two barges, Deborah and Daniele, in 2016, as well as fifth ships on the Douro in 2017 and the Mekong in 2017.
‘Younger customers are worth targeting’ Agents have been urged not to forget about younger markets when booking river cruises. Andy Harmer, director of Clia UK & Ireland, told delegates that millennials – those aged about 18 to 35 – were more likely to book with agents than any other demographic.
Clia urges agents to push earlier bookings Delegates at the conference were encouraged to ensure customers book earlier. Lucia Rowe, chair of Clia’s river cruise advisory board, said 37% of customers now booked just three months ahead of sailings.
26 November 2015
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