Growing Your River Cruise Sales | TravelPulse

The river cruise industry shows no signs of slowing down, as companies build new ships with innovative features and add itineraries in increasingly exotic destinations, as well as here in the good old U.S. of A.

If you’re looking to kick-start and expand your river cruise sales, you might need to change your marketing and qualifying process to reach new clients. There are, after all, differences between selling ocean cruises and voyages on the rivers.

For one, selling river cruises “requires more knowledge about the individual river cruise lines and their differences and similarities,” said John Gwane of Cruises Inc. in Virginia Beach, Va., in our cover story.

Some river cruise lines include alcoholic beverages, and some don’t. Some can accommodate families with kids, most don’t. The river cruise segment is becoming as varied as ocean cruising, so you must keep up with the developments.

Plus, many clients aren’t as familiar with the Rhine or the Irrawaddy or the Douro rivers – and they’ll look to you as the travel expert to explain what to see and do.

Speaking of that, make sure prospective river cruisers know what to expect on these smaller vessels. “Ocean cruisers who love the casino, nightlife and high energy of a big ship will most likely be bored out of their minds on a river cruise,” said Trish Gastineau of Simply Customized Travel in Naples, Fla.

For more advice from experienced river cruise travel advisors, turn to our cover story on page 20.

To help you keep up with river cruising, turn to page 24, where we outline what’s new with individual lines.

On page 26, we talk to Rob Huffman, the new vice president of trade sales-U.S. for sister companies Scenic and Emerald Waterways. He actually grew up in his parents’ travel agency in Memphis in the early 1970s to the late 1980s. He explains how the two river lines differ and what kind of client gravitates toward each.

On page 28, we catch up with Katharine Bonner, senior vice president-river and small ship cruising at Tauck, the tour operator that offers its own style of product on the rivers.

There’s more in this issue beyond river cruising, of course, including a profile on page 34 of Two Roads Hospitality, which evolved when Destination Hotels and Commune Hotels Resorts merged.

We also spotlight Guadalajara in our special Mexico section, which begins on page 44.

Enjoy!