SPECIAL REPORT inventory and capacity. The ship was christened by godmother Lucy Huxley, who reports from Porto
Group splits sales focus to reflect river cruise growth
A
Estrela is blessed before its inaugural sailing
PT Travel Group has implemented a “split product focus” on river cruise and touring in response to a
significant growth in river cruise sales through the trade. National sales managers Robin Griffiths
and Becky Baumbach now look after river cruising and touring respectively. Brad Bennetts, head of sales and business
development for the UK and Europe, said: “This is a strategic change we’ve made because of the significant growth and success of river cruising, small-ship cruising and our yachts business. We are seeing huge numbers of new agents coming to APT for these products – we’ve seen growth of about 70% year on year.” Bennetts said the move would also help as it coincided
with APT introducing a raft of new touring product this month in India, South Africa and Sri Lanka, which needs special focus from the team. He said new product in Australia was “coming soon”, in the wake of airfares having become “more reasonable” following a spike post-Covid. Bennetts added that APT would be launching smaller modular trips that guests could take individually or combine.
Brad Bennetts The group will also be launching its range
of European Small Group Journeys later this month, featuring Spain, Italy and Portugal with six and 10-night options. In Portugal, passengers can combine a tour with a Douro river cruise on the operator’s new ship, Estrela, which has been purpose-built for the region. “We feel smaller journeys, with fewer
than 20 guests, are going to be really popular,” said Bennetts.
APT’s 100-passenger classical ship Caledonian Sky,
which has been based in the Kimberley, Australia, will be sailing in Europe for the first time this summer, offering itineraries around the Greek islands, Athens to Athens, Venice to Istanbul, and Valletta to Venice. Bennetts added: “Small is where it’s at – small ships,
small-group journeys, small yachts in Croatia. We believe these are areas where agents can really enhance their margins by putting together cruise and tour itineraries. “With retail being such a core part of our strategy, we
need all this new product, inventory and capacity to offer to them and to feed into our five-year plan.” He revealed that APT was looking to build an agency loyalty programme in the second half of this year.
APT group plans expansion on Europe’s rivers and launch on Nile A
PT Travel Group has outlined ambitious expansion plans for its APT and Travelmarvel brands over the next two years as it prepares to
launch two ships on the Rhine and Danube. The launch of the two APT ships will be
followed next year by a new Travelmarvel vessel on the Rhine and Moselle, with APT planning to return to the Balkans region in 2026 and the group due to enter the Nile market in 2026-27. Speaking on Estrela, the group’s new ship for
the Douro River in Portugal, UK and Europe managing director Paul Melinis said: “We have got two new APT ships joining the fleet – one next week and one in June. Both will sail the iconic Rhine and Danube rivers offering five-star luxury.
“We’re also bringing back APT in the Balkans.
It was really popular after we had Jane McDonald sailing with us there in 2018. Travelmarvel has continued sailing there but APT hasn’t since the Covid pandemic. We will go on sale for those itineraries on May 8 for travel in 2026.” Melinis explained APT would offer a 14-night
sailing of the lower Danube, featuring the Iron Gates gorge and Romanian capital Bucharest. It will also be the first time back for
Travelmarvel on the Rhine and Moselle since Covid. A seven-night itinerary will go on sale, also on May 8, as part of the group’s new European Collection. Meanwhile, the group is currently building a ship for the Nile in Egypt, which is scheduled to
enter service at the end of 2026 or early 2027. Melinis said the group was not only
investing in its hardware but also its people, adding: “We have spent a lot in the learning and development space recently. “We’ve put a new AI system into our contact
centre so we can assess what is a good call from start to finish – from the opening line to the close. Every call gets measured to give us good metrics from which to improve. “So if someone scores low on their opening, we
can focus on that with their training. It’s designed to take them – and the booking journey for our customers – from good to great. It’s been in for three weeks already and it’s really helping. Our reservations staff are incentivised from it too.”
travelweekly.co.uk
24 APRIL 2025
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PICTURES: APT; nvstudio
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