River Cruising Continues to Grow in Appeal

River cruising has been steadily increasing in popularity over the past two decades – and in the aftermath of the pandemic its appeal is growing stronger still, according to travel advisors who specialize in the niche.

“2023 is shaping up to be a record year for river cruising,” said Pamela Small of Pam Small Travel, an affiliate of Travel Experts. “There is a huge pent-up demand to visit Europe now that travel restrictions have been completely lifted.

“Airline capacity is limited and there are no longer some of the hot deals on airfares that we saw back in 2021, but it is not deterring travelers from booking.

“Many just want to stay longer in Europe once they get there and this is driving up the demand for back-to-back river cruises and adding the pre- and post-cruise land stays to a seven-night river cruise.”

“River cruising is the new go-to vacation experience for most of my clientele,” said Taunya Altamirano of Dream Vacations – Live Love Drink Travel. “I am currently working on three river cruse groups that are selling out faster than I can schedule a new one over the next few months.”

“In the past few years, we have seen an increase in river cruise sales mainly because of the reduced [number] of passengers,” said Laurie Shuss of Dream Vacations – Laurie and Greg Shuss & Associates. “As cruising slowly returned to service after COVID, clients were more interested in cruising on a ship that had 170 passengers or less.”

The market is also expanding in terms of product offerings. “Riverside Luxury Cruises is bringing back the former Crystal luxury river ships while lines like Riviera River Cruises and Amadeus River Cruises are working to gain a stronghold in the North American market,” said Amy Madson of Dream Vacations – Madson & Associates. “New destinations are becoming available as Avalon Waterways is starting up on the Douro River in 2024 and AmaWaterways is heading to Colombia, giving our clients more choices.”

So, if ever there were a time to learn how to boost your river cruise business, it’s now.

“To start with, you must learn about the different rivers and the differences in cruise lines and then experience a river cruise,” said Small. “I would suggest starting out with an Upper Danube or Rhine cruise as they are the most popular with first-time river cruisers.

“Another idea is to reach out to your client base of upscale tour or cruise clients and put together a small ‘Come Sail With Me’ group asking them which river would they most like to discover with you.”

“When I experience travel myself, I talk to everyone – the staff, the guides, the passengers, the local community members. You have to soak in everything from every perspective to understand how to position this as a product you can sell.

“Understanding the product and the market is just the beginning, Melnick added. “Then you have to market it. I am a big believer in video to sell, and I have my travel channel on YouTube where I offer in-depth coverage of travel opportunities and short videos for attention. Free social media is the best way to grow your business, regardless of the niche market.”

Travel advisors now have a larger field of prospective clients to market and sell to, thanks to a growing number of younger travelers interested in river cruise vacations.

“The average age of a river guest has dropped considerably over the past five years as hiking, biking excursions and pickleball have been added,” said Pamela Small of Pam Small Travel, an affiliate of Travel Experts.

“Wellness programs and culinary and special interest tours have all done a lot to attract active travelers in the 50- plus age bracket.”

“Our river cruise clients are getting younger,” she said. “With Avalon Waterways’ Active & Discovery itineraries offering some of the most unique excursions available along with their Avalon Fresh menus and AmaWaterways highlighting health and wellness, we are selling river cruises to folks in their 40s and up!

“It’s a great vacation for full-time employees as most itineraries can be enjoyed in seven to 10 days.”

“I always say that ocean cruises take you to the countries and river cruises take you through them.”

Explaining the selling points of river cruises, and how they differ from ocean cruises, is also a helpful way in which to close a sale. “I always say that ocean cruises take you to the countries and river cruises take you through them,” Shuss said.

“A river cruise can show you much more of a country in one itinerary. Plus, you can combine river cruises back to back to cover even more of a river destination. For example, on a Rhine river cruise, you can easily go from Amsterdam to Budapest on one itinerary. Others can cover 13 countries on one river cruise!”

In the end, it is imperative to seek out the suppliers that you want to work with and reach out to business development managers on how they can help you build your river business, noted Altamirano.

“And then, of course, you have to network and tell people about what you do; otherwise, how will they know? Talk to everyone all the time!”