Recommend January 2013 - (Page 16)

CLIA thinks “small” “River cruising is the fastest growing segment of the industry,” says Christine Duffy, president of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), “gaining in popularity because of the up-close and personal experiences offered when sailing on the world’s legendary rivers.” According to Duffy, CLIA recently conducted a survey with member travel agents and found that this category of cruising already represents 5 to 45 percent of agent business, and almost 60 percent of respondents described it as a growing sales opportunity. In support of this market, “CLIA developed its Specialty Cruise Collection initiative to promote river, as well as small ship, coastal, luxury and adventure sailing member lines. Our efforts encompass marketing and public relations strategies, travel agent training, and other activities designed to heighten consumer and trade awareness.” According to the CLIA survey, agents ﬁnd the factors that drive consumer interest in special cruising range from social interaction and friendships made with fellow passengers to price, value, specialized culinary experiences on board and ashore, interesting shore activities and sightseeing, and perception of greater degree of personal services. Agents responding to the survey also note that older and more afﬂuent consumers are presently the prime customers, and looking ahead, agents predict that this specialty cruise segment would be characterized by more shipboard amenities and activities, greater focus on cultural activities, more luxury and more ships purposebuilt for river, as well as coastal and adventure travel. The Specialty Cruise Collection presently embraces 13 CLIA member lines; the four river cruise members are: AmaWaterways, American Cruise Lines, Avalon Waterways and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. 16 january 2013 “We recognize the importance of the travel agency community and the vital role they play in educating consumers about our products and ultimately placing their clients on our ships.” Rudi Schreiner, President, AmaWaterways own. They like the ﬂexibility of small ship river cruises, and they like the access to a destination. They want to learn, get to know as much as possible, and experience every destination’s culture and lifestyle right on the scene.” As a member of the Signature Travel Network, Luxe Travel gets lots of excellent training and support in selling cruises, says Felger. “Within Signature’s special cruise niche, we work with Uniworld, American Cruise Lines and AmaWaterways. But if I have a client who wants to see a speciﬁc place at a special time that’s not on one of their cruises, I book whichever river cruise ﬁts the client’s request and requirements.” “the new adventure” Virtuoso not only identiﬁed “river cruising” among the top ﬁve travel trends for 2013 in its Luxe Report, but the luxury travel network chartered AmaWaterways’ new AmaCerto vessel for its eighth annual “2012 Chairman’s Recognition Event,” hosting its top 60 travel agency members. In his welcoming speech during the week-long Danube cruise from Budapest to Nuremberg, Rudi Schreiner, president of AmaWaterways, stated: “We recognize the importance of the travel agency community and the vital role they play in educating consumers about our products and ultimately placing their clients on our ships.” Among the attendees, Ruth Turpin, owner of Cruises Etc. Travel, was one of a small group of repeat AmaWaterways passengers. She reports that, “Not only did I ﬁnd the product really excellent—food, service and tours—but I’ve sold several AmaCerto cruises since returning.” When Cruises Etc. Travel ﬁrst began selling river cruises, Turpin says bookings were all from older, retired clients. But this has changed. “We are now getting the 40s and 50s [in part] because cruise lines are appealing to them. On this Danube cruise, AmaWaterways had plenty of bicycles available for many of our group who biked along the river road from port to port. And river cruise lines are tailoring tours to all levels of involvement. Aboard AmaWaterways, excursions are geared to leisurely, moderate and more adventurous abilities, and the company has developed an excellent program of Celebrations of Wine cruises that appeal to younger travelers.” She says her clients would be interested in an equally strong menu of culinary-themed departures. Turpin has done a lot of cruising in Europe, where her company also sells Viking and Tauck cruises. She is particularly enthusiastic over the new cruise product for the River Douro in Portugal, “although the new AmaWaterways vessel is almost totally sold out.” Another high enthusiasm is for China, where she personally discovered that “Viking has a terriﬁc product. This river cruise is a great way for clients of all ages to experience the ➤ recommend.com http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend January 2013

Editor's Note
Hotel Desk: The Westlake Village Inn
Tour Talk: Brendan Vacations' Boutique Journeys
Four Cheers for River Crusing
A-ROSA Silva
Delta Air Lines' 2013 Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America Travel Guide
China Remains a Time-Tested Destination
What's Hot in Vegas for 2013
Back to the Gulf
Authentic Morocco in An (Argan) Nutshell
Festive Europe

Recommend January 2013